All eyes on Games vote

There is a sense of anticipation in Beijing - the unofficial favorite to win the 2008 Games

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- As the International Olympic Committee votes on which city will host the 2008 Olympic Games, tension and speculation about the likely winner continues to mount.

Will Beijing -- considered by many the favorite to win the Games -- bring the Olympics to China for the first time, or will it be upstaged by Toronto, Paris, Osaka or Istanbul?

Certainly Beijing was in the spotlight as the five bidding cities were making their final presentation to IOC members in Moscow.

The Chinese capital’s bid has been troubled by various issues, including human rights, which other bid cities cite as the reason why China should be passed over for the Games.

In its presentation to the IOC, Beijing said it was time the Olympics came to China, noting the city lost out to Sydney by two votes in 1993 for the right to host the 2000 Games.

"Eight years have gone by since our first bid for the Games of the year 2000," said He Zhenliang, honorary president of the Chinese Olympic Committee and a member of the IOC executive board.

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"During this period of time, my country has made tremendous strides on the road to modernization and social progress . . . Beijing has the capacity to organize excellent Olympic Games, which will hand down a unique heritage to China and to sport."

Winner announced

At 6:00p.m. (1400 GMT or 10 a.m. ET), the 122 members of the IOC will cast their votes at the International Hotel in central Moscow, a process expected to take about an hour.

After the winner is announced -- the most eagerly anticipated moment of the day -- a news conference will be held with the winning city.

The winner is elected by simple majority. On the host city's selection, the IOC enters into a written agreement with the city which specifies in detail its Olympic obligations. Two cities were hot on China's heels Friday, believing their bids had gained enough momentum in recent weeks to give them a chance at the Games. Those representing Paris -- the only one of the five to have hosted the Olympics before, in 1900 and 1924 -- say more than 60 percent of all the venues already exist to stage a modern Games.

France hosted an extremely successful soccer World Cup in 1998, and bid officials have promoted Paris landmarks as possible venues, like holding the marathon on the Champs Elysees.

Toronto was also pushing Beijing hard on the run-up to the vote. The Canadian bid team has called the city the athletes' choice, promoting it as safer and more technologically advanced than the others.

More than 70 percent of the venues in Toronto have been built already, the bid officials say, many of them on the picturesque waterfront.

Osaka and Istanbul were considered the rank outsiders Friday. In an IOC evaluation report this spring, the bids of Beijing, Toronto and Paris were considered "excellent," leading many observers to discount the Japanese and Turkish bids.

Istanbul was also considered an outsider because of its proximity to Athens, the host of the 2004 Olympic Games.

In Las Vegas, the betting capital of the world, bookmakers had their money on Beijing. "Beijing is the favorite -- even money. Then Toronto, and forget about all the others," said John Avello, the director of race and sports books for Bally's Las Vegas.

More protests

But as the city's supporters waged a hefty public-relations campaign in its favor, protests over the human rights situation in China were gathering momentum.

Russian police broke up a protest Friday by two groups opposed to Beijing's bid, with officials saying they detained 14 people.

The demonstrators tried to unfurl three banners across from the World Trade Center on the Moscow River embankment, where the IOC was meeting.

Larry Sault, head of the Iroquois Confederation, whose Indian name is Strong Eagle, presents the Toronto bid

The anti-Chinese feelings also manifested themselves in Moscow Wednesday when police broke up a small demonstration by a group of Tibetans, arresting eight people, saying they lacked a proper permit. A smaller protest by the same group Thursday led to the arrests of two people.

The human rights issue is one that Beijing's rivals hope will be the city's downfall.

"Everybody, including the IOC, have been informed about the record of human rights in every candidate country," said Jean-Paul Huchon, president of the Paris bid.

"So it is up to the IOC to fulfill its responsibility."

While critics of the Beijing bid were unified in their long-held concerns over China's human rights record and political environment, Chinese officials continued to downplay those fears.

Wong Wei, secretary-general of the Beijing bid, said human rights conditions in China have recently improved.

"The '90s was the open-up policy of China," he said. "And with the economic development of China, all aspects of social factors have been enhanced, including the human rights."

For weeks, Beijing, Paris and Toronto have been viewed as the front-runners after an IOC report ranked their bids as excellent, while Osaka and Istanbul are considered longshots.