Olympics: Paris makes bid for 2008 Olympics

PARIS HAS launched an official bid to stage the 2008 Olympic Games. The French President, Jacques Chirac, yesterday contacted Juan-Antonio Samaranch, the International Olym- pic Committee president, to confirm the city's application.

Kuala Lumpur and Beijing have already formally bid for the event, while Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Osaka in Japan, Seville in Spain and Toronto are also interested. The IOC will select the host city in 2001.

Kevin Gosper, an IOC executive board member and a possible successor to Samaranch, has suggested that only capital cities should apply for future summer Olympics.

"I can see in the future that only a capital city need apply," Gosper said. "It has to be a city which has the capacity to host a global event, and which can continue its normal daily business life while hosting an Olympics."

Suggesting a city was unlikely to win the right to stage sport's biggest prize at the first attempt, he cited the case of Athens which lost out for the 1996 Games to Atlanta. The Greek capital came straight back and won the 2004 Games.

Beijing lost out to Sydney for the event in the year 2000. "I think it is wise Beijing rather than another Chinese city bid," Gosper said. "They will have learnt a lot from their first attempt."