Hard to call 2016 race for host city

Associated Press

LONDON -- The man who engineered London's narrow victory for the 2012 Olympics says the race for the 2016 Summer Games is even harder to call.

Sebastian Coe tells The Associated Press that next month's vote on the 2016 host city is "even closer and tighter" than the 2012 contest in which London beat out Paris, Madrid, New York and Moscow.

Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo are the 2016 candidates. The International Olympic Committee will vote in Copenhagen on Oct. 2.

Coe says at this stage in the 2012 race, it was clear that London and Paris had the momentum and at least two of the other cities were treading water. But he said Monday it's difficult to say the same about any of the 2016 bidders.