俄罗斯著名网球选手莎拉波娃担任了此次莫斯科申奥的形象宣传大使，为莫斯科的最终胜出增添了不小的筹码

　　Moscow Olympic bid

　　Officials of the International Olympic Committee begin their visit to Moscow recently to assess the city＇s potential for staging the Games in 2012.

　　The Russian capital is the last stop on their tour. They have already visited Madrid,London,New York and Paris. Moscow is widely regarded as having only an outside chance of staging the Games. Although the city is thriving,it suffers from a lack of hotel accommodation, transport problems,including an ageing airport and questions of security. But the city and the Russian government are prepared to make major investments to secure the Olympics. Ten billion dollars would be available to transform the city＇s infrastructure,including a new metro system.

　　IOC officials will meet President Putin and have a private tour of the Kremlin. Moscow is anxious to dispel memories of the 1980 Games when sixty-five countries boycotted the event over the Soviet Union＇s intervention in Afghanistan. The American-led boycott and the subsequent retaliation by most Eastern bloc countries four years later in Los Angeles threatened the future of the Olympic movement.

　　The IOC inspection team＇s four-day visit to Moscow will result in a detailed report on all the candidate cities. The vote by all the IOC members will be taken in Singapore on July.