Okay, so we might be jumping forward a bit. We are getting closer to the 2012 Olympic games in London, yet the odds of who will host in 2020 is already something to talk about. In fact, you can even go on bet365.com and place a bet on who you think win the bid to host outright.

I mean, technically it’s not really that premature to already talk about considering the International Olympic Committee has already begun the selection process, selecting candidate cities on May 23rd 2012. It is such a long process to just be a candidate city that even if hopefuls Istanbul, Tokyo, Baku, Doha, and Madrid are picked, they are far from done with the selection process.

What started all the way back on May 16th, 2011 is finally to a point where we can actually start to guess who the actual host could be. It is first important to examine each of these possibilities to see if there is truly any chance of them actually being able to handle something as large and as popular as the Olympic games.

The biggest selling point for Istanbul is definitely the three different venues that were built or renovated in the 21st century, and are UEFA Elite stadiums. This can definitely give the Olympic committee more room for scheduling and allow plenty of space for separate sporting events. Doha and Baku are the two in the group that I am going to go out on a limb here and say won’t be winning.

Doha, Qatar is just not a place I’d like to be going for my Olympic medal quests although the government of Qatar has already put forth a plan that would host the games in October to allow optimal weather conditions. Bet365.com agrees with their odds favoring neither to win with 8/1 for Baku and 4/1 for Doha.

Tokyo and Madrid would seem to be just too attractive to pass up on for the committee. Not only has Spain already hosted the Summer Olympic games, but it has been selected to host the 2020 FIFA World Cup as well.

There’s a chance that the committee could see all of the stuff going on that year in Spain to be too much for them to handle and therefore pick Tokyo. However, the effects from the tsunami that wiped through Japan could be a cause for concern. Japan has hosted the Winter Olympics twice already making it a suitable place.

But, the fact Spain hosted doesn’t give Japan much advantage in that area. Personally, I wouldn’t want to be pole vaulting in Japan with all that leaky gas from the aftermath of the tsunami. Nevertheless, Tokyo is the favorite according to bet365.com to be the host city with 13/8 odds and Madrid is second with 11/4.

Istanbul is just a kid in the crowd saying pick me, pick me with 4/1 odds, tied with Doha.

We’re years away from the actual 2020 Olympics and we haven’t yet started the 2012 ones either, but it’s still fun to guess. The actual winner will be selected on September 7th, 2013 at the 125th International Olympic Committee session.