Doha 2020 Bid offers Compact Olympic Games

Doha: Qatar has proposed a compact Olympic Games, involving travel times of less than 21 minutes from the Games Centre to all competition venues, as one of the key features of the Doha’s bid to win the rights to stage the 2020 edition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as per QNA.

Details of the bid were unveiled by Doha 2020 Vice Chairman and General Secretary of the Qatar Olympic Committee HE Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Technical Bid and Project Management Deputy CEO Faha Juma at a media conference held at the Aspire Torch Tower here Monday.

The technical bid book elaborates the strategy of utilizing existing and planned sports venues in five Sports Zones. 91% of the sports venues are either already built or already planned and budgeted for as part of the Qatar National Vision 2030. There is no need for any new permanent sports venues, or Games-related infrastructure investment, ensuring only minimal additional spending would be required to stage the 2020 Olympics. The opening and closing ceremonies are proposed to take place at the new Lusail National Stadium – the venue for the opening match and final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Khalifa Stadium will be upgraded to a 60,000 capacity dedicated athletics stadium. Doha’s new $21 Billion metro system will link to 78% of all sports venues. 50,000 hotel rooms and serviced apartments will be within 15km of the majority of Games venues.

The compact hosting plan, world class transport system and location of accommodation will ensure spectators can watch several events in a single day. Almost half of all Games tickets will be priced at less than $25.

Among the other notable features of the bid is the legacy of the region s first women’s High Performance Training Centre, and the first Olympic-standard cycling velodrome in the Middle East.