One year to Vancouver, eight years to (fill in the blank)

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We’re one year out from the Vancouver 2010 Games -- and the International Olympic Committee announced earlier today that it has received the ‘Candidature Files’ from the four cities bidding to host the Games of the XXXI Olympiad. Chicago, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid delivered their bids well before the midnight deadline.

(Don’t read anything into how the cities were listed. The cities drew lots and that’s how they ended up.)

The four candidate cities were among seven (including Prague, Czech Republic; Baku, Azerbaijan, and Doha, Qatar) that had applied to host the Games.

What’s next in the seemingly marathon process of selecting a host?

The IOC Evaluation Commission, which is chaired by IOC Executive Board Member Nawal El Moutawakel, will conduct a trip to review the cities. The schedule: Chicago: April 4-7; Tokyo, April 16-19; Rio de Janeiro, April 29-May 2 and Madrid, May 5-8.

The commission subsequently will submit a report to IOC members no later than one month before the 121st IOC Session, which will be held on Oct. 2 in Copenhagen.

The IOC said that it wouldn’t release the files, but that the candidate cities are permitted to publish their proposals on their websites on Friday. Those websites are: Chicago 2016; Tokyo 2016; Rio 2016; and Madrid 2016.

-- Greg Johnson