Games commission starts Moscow inspection

Moscow began a four-day courtship of Olympic inspectors yesterday, wooing them with glitzy presentations in an uphill battle for the right to stage the 2012 Games. The Russian capital is widely viewed as the rank outsider in the race to host the...

Moscow began a four-day courtship of Olympic inspectors yesterday, wooing them with glitzy presentations in an uphill battle for the right to stage the 2012 Games. The Russian capital is widely viewed as the rank outsider in the race to host the Olympics but the bid committee will use the visit by the 13 inspectors to try and shed its underdog image.

Moscow is the last stop of the IOC evaluation commission's tour of the five shortlisted cities. Paris is the early favourite, with London, Madrid and New York the other candidates.

Bid leader Valery Shantsev, Moscow's vice mayor, will show the commission around proposed Olympic venues as well as the city's best known attractions such as Red Square.

The bid committee will have to provide their Olympic visitors with answers on how to address the city's crippling traffic problem, lack of hotels and inadequate airports.

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