Fed up of Sydney yet. A bit bored with Athens, the Olympic venue for 2004. Well then why not consider the 10 cities that are currently in the pot for the 2008 games. Bangkok, Beijing, Cairo, Havana, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Osaka, Paris, Seville and Toronto each want to snag the prize. The one that succeeds will become the first city not to be visited by members of the illustrious International Olympic Council (IOC). Since 10 members were expelled last year for taking bribes, the appeal of being wined and dined around the globe has apparently vanished.

An IOC meeting on August 28th-29th will consider the bids and put each one through the cleansing process known as "a bid acceptance procedure". A final decision will be made in July 2001 in Moscow.