The race to secure the bid for the Summer Games of 2012 is among the most intense in history. Five of the world's most prominent cities have tossed their hat into the ring for the right to host the most prestigious international event in sports. They have consciously chosen to saddle the immense responsibility that comes with a winning bid. It seems that, more than any impending Summer Games, the 2012 bid has garnered substantial media and public attention and scrutiny well before the host city was due to be decided. Never before has the competition been so close and packed with an almost tangible tension. The five cities to make it to the final round have gone to tremendous lengths to prove to the world that their bid is the most worthy. Madrid, Moscow, Paris, London, and New York are battling it out in this battle of metropolises to see who will be the last city standing in this global political, civic, athletic, and financial battle of pride to be known as the 2012 host city. This book aims to condense what is a mountain of numbers and documents diligently, presented by each candidate city into information that is slightly simpler to understand for outsiders to give the reader a clearer view into the rather exclusive and often unforgiving world of planning to host the Summer Games. Also by Chetan Dave: "Bronx Cheer".