The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has selected New York and San Francisco as possible hosts for the summer Olympics in 2012.

Eliminating Houston and a joint Baltimore-Washington bid, the USOC must now choose either New York or San Francisco to compete against other foreign cities hoping to be chosen to hold the Olympics.

That decision will be made on 3 November.

The International Olympic Committee will decide the final destination of the 2012 games when it has reviewed all bids. An announcement will be made in 2005.

According to a report in the New York Times, the city of New York will have to build a number of facilities if it is to host the Olympics. These include a US$1.5bn stadium on the west side of Manhattan, 4,300 apartments as part of an Olympic village on the East River and specialised sports facilities including a velodrome, whitewater canoe course and areas for equestrian sports, archery and beach volleyball.

If San Francisco is chosen, Stanford Stadium will need to be renovated and an Olympic village and velodrome built.

Explaining why New York and San Francisco had been successful against other US cities, Charles Moore, Chairman of the USOC's task force said:

New York's infrastructure and security plans impressed the panel and San Francisco's international strategies and environmental plans were important considerations.'