The Istanbul bid would seem to have the most going for it. The city is bidding for a fifth time after failed attempts for the Olympics of 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012.

The Olympic bid process takes so long that a child now in first grade will have just graduated from high school by the time the 2012 Games begin--on July 27, 2012, at the Coliseum, if the L.A ...

In 1993, when Beijing lost its bid for the 2000 Olympics to Sydney, it was a bitter moment. For the 2008 bid, it’s clear, China is taking a new tack. MSNBC.com’s Kari Huus reports.

By the time 2000 rolled around, most Aussies were unenthusiastic about the Games, fearing that we'd look like a bumbling backwater on the world stage. But we didn't. We rocked it. And we were proud.

Houston 2012's bid, a 679-page document, was submitted to the USOC in December 2000. In addition, a 222-page bid supplement was provided to the USOC in April 2002.