Filip Bondy

SINGAPORE - When the unfathomable votes were counted on Wednesday, halfway around the world, New York’s 2012 Olympic hopes were gone, a possible 2016 bid was dangling by a thread, and nobody was making the city any promises.

“We’re going to open it up,” Peter Ueberroth, president of the U.S. Olympic Committee, was telling reporters about the next American candidate for the 2016 Summer Games. “We will have a new process over the next four years.”

And there it was, a very bad Olympic ending for NYC2012, on a day that had started with surprising promise. London was exuberant, a surprise winner. Madrid had come a lot closer to winning this thing than people thought. Paris was trying to get the license plate of the truck that just ran it over.

Team New York was just trying figure out how it was possible to garner more votes in the first round, 19, than it did in the second, 15. Apparently, the bloc that had voted for Moscow switched as one to Madrid for a round or two, but that was just part of it.

“I believe it’s a political competition that’s very difficult to analyze,” Hillary Clinton said. “I’m not going to look into the minds of those who voted.”

On Wednesday morning, NYC2012 had been quite certain it impressed the IOC with a slick, music-video-style presentation. There was a production by a local movie director, Bob Giraldi, and then the city’s deputy mayor, Dan Doctoroff, told everybody that New York was very ready for this great moment.

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The buzz was loud; the bid was hot. Clinton, Doctoroff and Mayor Michael Bloomberg all felt good about themselves at a pre-vote press conference, when this long shot seemed to be gathering uphill momentum. Mario Vazquez Rana of Mexico, an IOC delegate of considerable influence, hinted he would nudge the Latin American vote toward this upstart bid.

But it was all an illusion. NY2012 was knocked out in the second round of voting, beaten not only by the favorites Paris and London, but also by a competitor originally perceived to be on even ground, Madrid.

In the end, New York City was judged to be superior only to Moscow among the five finalists. The pre-voting evaluations by an IOC committee, based on preparedness, facilities and support, held firm. The defeat was so complete, so devastating, that it may discourage a second go-round, a reincarnation as NYC2016 for this team of politicos and developers.

Frankly, no city has ever won the Olympics after such a poor first showing.

What happened? There will be considerable debate about that now among U.S. Olympic officials, who will decide in the next few years whether New York gets a second shot in four years. Doctoroff said before the debacle he was unlikely to continue. The private sector in the city that has been driving this bid will have to consider whether it is worth the millions and the effort, all over again.

The reason for New York’s quick dismissal could be simple: The bid wasn’t technically up to snuff. There were questions about transportation all along, and then Bloomberg and Doctoroff had desperately switched stadium sites to Queens, days after telling the world it was not a proper option.

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