The success of the Pan Am Games has spurred talk of another bid for Toronto to host the 2024 Olympic Games.

With the Sept. 15 deadline approaching for expressions of interest, Mayor John Tory (open John Tory's policard) says there’s a “great discussion” underway about whether Toronto should take a sixth run at the Olympics.

Here’s a look back at our five previous bids:

1. 1960

The pitch: Toronto proposed to hold the Games at the Canadian National Exhibition grounds.

The frontrunners: Rome, Tokyo, Mexico City, Budapest, Brussels, Lausanne, Detroit.

The obstacles: No Olympic stadium, tepid lobbying, and little public enthusiasm.

There was also some suggestion that Toronto’s representatives also weren’t up to snuff when it came to lobbying. The Toronto Daily Star reported the city’s failure to win the 1960 Games on April 15, 1955 under the headline, “If Toronto Wants Olympics/ Should Arrive Bearing Gifts.”

The story quoted Sidney Dawes, official Canadian representative on the IOC, as saying that Toronto should make up some gifts for IOC members for its bid for the 1964 Games.

“In a letter made public yesterday, Dawes was quoted as saying it would be a ‘very nice gesture’ if lighters bearing the city of Toronto crest were sent to committee members with a request that Toronto be considered for the 1964 Games,” the Star reported.

The winner: Rome

2. 1964

The pitch: Another effort, so mild that there’s no evidence it even existed in the Toronto Star library.

The frontrunners: Tokyo, Detroit, Vienna, Brussels.

The obstacles: Tokyo had inside track because of its strong bid for 1960 Games.

“Toronto never fully complied with the application process to host the 1960 Olympic Games and their 1964 bid did not garner much attention,” wrote Virginia Tech professor Robert Oliver in his PhD thesis on Toronto’s failed bids to host the Olympics. “These early bid efforts did reveal a real unease over the lack of sporting infrastructure (especially those of international standards) in the city and the status of the waterfront.”

(It’s not clear whether any delegates received lighters with the city of Toronto crest on them.)

The winner: Tokyo

3. 1976

The pitch: A massive lakefront project on landfill, including a stadium that would seat 80,000 to 100,000, a velodrome, housing and a sports palace.

The frontrunners: The international contenders were Moscow and Los Angeles, but Toronto didn’t even get that far – it had to face off against Hamilton and Montreal to win the backing of the Canadian Olympic Association (as the Canadian Olympic Committee was then called).

The obstacles: Montreal had already made a strong bid but unsuccessful bid for the 1972 Games. It likely didn’t help that 20 of the 38 voting members of the COA were from Quebec.

Montreal also had then-mayor Jean Drapeau’s international reputation, which had been bolstered by the city hosting Expo 67 in Canada’s Centennial year.

The winner: Montreal

4. 1996

The pitch: The Games would be part of a massive waterfront renovation plan.

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The frontrunners: Atlanta, Athens, Melbourne, Manchester, Belgrade.

The obstacles: Oliver notes that the effort of the social activist group Bread Not Circuses is often cited as contributing to Toronto’s failure.

“While Bread Not Circuses did expose the dilemmas of the bid group’s proposal, it was the process of tackling sport and social issues simultaneously that proved cumbersome in a city that was struggling with very real local problems,” Oliver wrote.

The winner: Atlanta. Toronto came third in the balloting.

5. 2008

The pitch: Price guarantees given for construction. Athletes included in the process.

The frontrunners: Beijing, Toronto, Paris, Istanbul, Osaka.

The obstacles: Then-mayor Mel Lastman ignited a firestorm of criticism when he told a reporter that he was afraid to go to Africa on a trip to promote Toronto’s Olympic bid: “I just see myself in a pot of boiling water with all these natives dancing around me.”

“The IOC’s evaluation commission for the 2008 bid rated Toronto quite well (in terms of infrastructure and technical capabilities) although there was some concern that Toronto’s commitment to its local sporting landscape wasn’t very encouraging,” Oliver said.

The winner: Beijing. This time, Toronto made it to second place in the balloting.

6. And for 2024?

Have your say

“Ultimately, Toronto has proven that it can produce a serious and competitive bid,” Oliver said in an email interview.

His 2011 study “Toronto’s Olympics Ambitions: an investigation of the Olympic bidding legacy in one modern city,” was sponsored by the International Olympic Association Olympic Studies Centre Postgraduate Research Grant Program.

“There is some sense that by hosting Pan American Games Toronto has addressed (at least partially) some of the concerns over facilities-sport infrastructure,” he said.

Hosting the annual Pride celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender culture could also work in the favour of parties trying to win the Olympics for Toronto, he said.

“I think that Canada (and Toronto) is viewed to be progressive with the PRIDE festival serving as just one example of our leadership and respect for fundamental human rights,” Oliver said.

He noted that the IOC has a new policy called Agenda 2020, which calls on host countries to sign anti-discrimination clauses and show respect for human rights, labour and the environment.

“[T]he IOC’s clearly articulated support for diversity (non-discrimination on sexual orientation) and the articulation of the Olympic Movement’s desire for respect, tolerance, and acceptance meshes nicely with Toronto’s multiculturalism,” Oliver said.

But is there time to turn around a decent expression of interest by Sept. 15?

“The upcoming deadline is really just the opening of the invitation phase and given that Toronto has lots of experience crafting application files and drafting the necessary letters of support making the deadline wouldn’t be too problematic,” Oliver said.

If Toronto is serious, the city could improve its chances of hosting the Olympics by showing a real commitment to grassroots sports, he added.

“It has become almost cliché, but the overarching goal should be to put people in playgrounds, not necessarily on podiums,” Oliver said.

With files from Toronto Star Library