Bombs, bankruptcy, boycotts - who'd want games like these?

Given the record of the Olympics in the past quarter-century, it is difficult to understand why any city would want the Games. Barcelona five years ago is almost the only unqualified success since 1972, when terrorism disfigured the Olympics for the first time.

The bloodbath that engulfed Israeli athletes, Arab gunmen and German security forces in Munich was followed by financial disaster four years later in Montreal, where the city's taxpayers are still meeting the cost. Moscow and Los Angeles were marred by Cold War boycotts, Seoul by drugs scandals. Since Los Angeles in 1984 the Games have made a profit, but last year in Atlanta the city's image was tarnished by over-commercialisation and poor organisation, and one person was killed in an unsolved bombing.

In Stockholm, one of Cape Town's four rivals for the 2004 Games - the others are Athens, Buenos Aires and Rome - a bomb this month destroyed sections of the stadium in which the 1912 Olympics were held. The explosion, and a series of fires at sports facilities, appear to be an attempt to sabotage the city's bid. The police have dismissed a claim of responsibility by a group calling itself "We Who Built Sweden", but the bomb was followed by threats of violence against athletes if Stockholm is chosen. A note sent to a news agency said the Games would cost too much: "We have large reserves of explosives, automatic weapons and ammunition. Do not doubt our determination and ability." The Stockholm attacks encapsulate the reaction of many in the developed world: that the Games are more trouble than they are worth.

Critics of the Italian bid say officials were seduced by tours of ancient Rome, fine food, plush accommodation and affable reassurance about potential problems. But the Italian capital has terrible traffic, poor public transport, a shortage of accommodation and bad communications. The 1990 World Cup left Rome with a clutch of useless public works projects and a deficit so huge that magistrates are still sorting out the mess. Supporters say the Olympics would provide much-needed investment to a backward, snarled- up city, but detractors fear the Olympics could turn into another beanfeast for corrupt officials and unscrupulous building speculators.

There is local support, but also foreign scepticism, about Athens, which watched in fury as the centennial Olympics went to Atlanta and the millennium Games to Sydney. Despite the smog, traffic chaos, urban decay and corruption, the Greek capital says it is a different place now from 1989, when the IOC last pronounced on it. Traffic regulation has cleaned the air, while private enterprise has helped turn it into a thrusting city. Vast disbursements from the EU have paved the way for a metro system and international airport. Both should be finished well before 2004. Athens scores poorly on accom- modation and political instability in the region, but the decision may hinge on the athletics World Championships, which ended there last weekend. They were deemed a success except by the president of the International Amateur Athletics Federation, Primo Nebiolo. But he is an Italian, with every interest to denigrate Rome's rival.

Buenos Aires is touting itself as "the safe city", citing a low crime rate, good food and friendly people. The popularity of the bid is largely due to promises that the Games could be held at little cost or disruption. Critics point out that mid-year is winter in the Argentinian capital but locals retort that Buenos Aires winters have become increasingly mild in recent years. Temperatures last week were around 20C. The sports- mad president, Carlos Menem, has thrown himself into the bid campaign. The constitution will force him to stand down in 1999, but he is so eager to preside over the Olympics that he has announced he will run again in 2003. Whether by then his citizens would be as keen on him, or the Games, is another matter.

Raymond Whitaker, Andrew Gumbel and Phil Davison