An Olympic-Sized Loss
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October 6, 2009 • Alex Baker
Filed under News
After last Friday, it seems that America’s Windy City has lost a little bit of its proverbial wind.
Despite years of planning and spending millions of dollars, even an eleventh-hour plea from President Obama himself, Chicago lost its bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games…in the first round of voting.
Besides Chicago, the cities of Tokyo, Madrid, and Rio de Janeiro were also Olympic hopefuls. Many of the people here in America, hopefully awaiting the International Olympic Committee’s decision, anticipated a tight race between Chicago and Rio de Janeiro, but they never expected a first round loss for the American city. In the IOC’s last round of voting, between Rio de Janeiro and Madrid, Rio was announced as the host city for the 2016 Olympics.
Brazilians celebrate after the IOC picked Rio de Janeiro as the first South American city to host an Olympic Games.
On Friday, much to the anguish of GOP members, President Obama flew to Copenhagen for a five-hour visit. He became the first American president to appear in front of the International Olympic Committee to lobby for an Olympics. By doing this, Obama pushed the Olympic Games to a level of national importance and also opened himself up to criticism from politicians who are already skeptical of his policies. After the IOC’s announcement that Chicago would no longer be considered as a possible host for the games, Republican Rich Galen said, “Other than people who like to cheer, ‘We’re number four! We’re number four!’ I don’t know how this is anything but really embarrassing.”
The President’s decision to travel to Denmark was made on Monday, even though Obama had stated previously that he would not attend the IOC’s hearings due to such pressing matters here in the United States as health care reform. Obama made the trip due to increasing optimism for America’s Olympic attempts and in hopes that his opinion would be the drop that spilled the glass for Chicago.
Disappointed Chicagoans lament the Windy Ctiy's loss in it's bid for the 2016 Olympic Games.
Ultimately, a solid attempt was made by Chicago with the support of celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey, but there were extenuating that pushed the IOC away from selecting an American city as a host. One such circumstance was the fact that Rio de Janeiro would be the first South American city to hold an Olympic Games. Another plausible explanation is that countries outside of the United States see America as arrogant and dominating, which could have compelled IOC members to choose a city outside of the States. Even though the results were not ideal for American, Senior White House Advisors said that Obama did the best he could and that the Olympic bid was “worth the effort.”
President Obama and his wife, Michelle, received the disappointing news on Air Force One while traveling to the White House and, upon their return, the President articulated his lament, but he also said that it is “always a worthwhile endeavor to promote and boost the United States.” Even though the President had hoped to return home with better news, Obama sportingly called Brazilian President, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, and congratulated him on becoming the first South American country to host an Olympic Games.
President Obama commended volunteers and Chicago city representatives that helped to make the city’s bid and put their “heart and soul,” into becoming the host city. Keeping spirits high, the President maintained that, “You can always play a great game and still not win.”
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“Brazilians celebrate after the IOC that Rio de Janeiro will be the first South American *country to host an Olympic Games. ”
*city
Good article.
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