Obama Personally Makes Pitch For 2016 Chicago Olympics

[Bruce]

Obama to make in-person pitch for 2016 Olympics

By JULIE PACE
,

WASHINGTON(AP) President Barack Obama will travel to Denmark to support Chicago's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics, projecting the highest-ever White House profile in lobbying for the international event.
Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to the president, told The Associated Press Monday morning that Obama will leave Thursday and join his wife, Michelle, in Copenhagen, where they'll make the pitch to the International Olympic Committee. Obama would be the first U.S. president to actually appeal in person to the International Olympic Committee for an Olympics event.

The International Olympic Committee is meeting in Copenhagen to select a host city for the 2016 Summer Games. Chicago faces tough competition from Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo.

The White House later formally announced the trip, saying that Obama and his wife ``will both make presentations to the IOC during Friday's session. They will discuss why Chicago is best to host the 2016 Summer Games, and how the United States is eager to bring the world together to celebrate the ideals of the Olympic movement.''

While in Denmark, the statement said, Obama and his wife also will meet with Queen Margrethe and the president will meet with Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen of Denmark.

Obama, who represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate after serving in the Illinois Legislature, is a longtime supporter of Chicago's bid. He and Michelle consider it their adopted home town, and he recently sent letters to selected IOC members, promising a ``spectacular Olympic experience for one and all.''

``President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama symbolize the hope, opportunity and inspiration that makes Chicago great, and we are honored to have two of our city's most accomplished residents leading our delegation in Copenhagen,'' Mayor Richard M. Daley said in a statement.

``Who better to share with members of the International Olympic Committee the commitment and enthusiasm Chicago has for the Olympic and Paralympic Movement than the President and First Lady.''

The president had held off on announcing a trip to Copenhagen, saying his first priority was the ongoing debate in Washington over health care reform. But aides said the president determined that his trip wouldn't take away from that process. The legislation is a signature piece of his domestic policy agenda and negotiations on Capitol Hill have been contentious.

But with heads of state representing Rio and Madrid already scheduled to attend the IOC meeting Friday, Chicago's bid organizers had hoped Obama would make an in-person appeal.

``I don't think there's an IOC member on the planet that wouldn't love to meet your president. He's a transformational figure in the world today,'' longtime IOC member Dick Pound said recently.

Obama is also mobilizing his administration on behalf of Chicago's bid. Senior adviser Jarrett, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, will also be joining the president and first lady in Copenhagen. All are from Illinois.

They join a Chicago contingent already packed with more star power than a Hollywood red carpet. The first lady is one of the few people who rivals her husband in visibility, and she'll be joined by talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who trails only Angelina Jolie on Forbes' annual Celebrity 100 list, a ranking of the rich and famous' most powerful.

Chicago is also bringing 14 Olympic and two Paralympic gold medalists, including Michael Johnson, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Nadia Comaneci and Nastia Liukin.
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Associated Press Writer Nancy Armour contributed to this report.

2009-09-28 09:18:49

[Bruce]

Wisconsin Would Host Olympic Cycling, Possibly More

Wisconsin would host the Olympic cycling events if Chicago were awarded the 2016 Olympics.


In addition, Wisconsin could be a training base for Olympic team sports, such as soccer and basketball, and possibly a site for some pre-Olympic warm-up matches.

============================================
From the Milwaukee JOURNAL SENTINEL, www.jsonline.com
State carries a torch for Chicago

Wisconsin also wins gold if Windy City gets 2016 Olympics

By Bill Glauber of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Sept. 26, 2009
[IMG]http://media.jsonline.com/images/185*152/olympicsG_092709.jpg[/IMG]


Chicago — It's not very often that Wisconsin sports fans cheer for a team from Chicago.

But that will be the case Friday when bid committees from Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Madrid square off in the race to become the host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee will select the winner in Copenhagen, Denmark, ending an arduous three-year campaign.
If Chicago wins, so does Wisconsin.

Madison is due to become a cycling hub of the 2016 Games, with the time trial, road cycling and mountain biking events held in and around the capital, and the city serving as a base for the cycling competitors.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee yearns to play host to tourists, teams training for the Games and pre-Olympic competitions.

"I will be watching the announcement with a lot of interest and hoping that Chicago lands the Olympics," said Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
Chicago and Rio de Janeiro have garnered the most attention in the final stages of the great Olympic race, but it's difficult to predict the outcome. There are no straw polls in this contest, which will be decided by a little more than 100 members of the IOC.

Patrick Ryan, a Wauwatosa native, is chairman and chief executive of the Chicago 2016 bid committee. Chicago is trying to sway the IOC voters with a $4.8 billion plan that calls for compact Games in several key sites in the city, including the waterfront along Lake Michigan. An American Olympics usually yields increased corporate sponsorships and high-priced television rights fees, key considerations for the IOC.

Rio de Janeiro is bidding to become the first South American city to host an Olympics, a fact that could sway voters who want to spread the Games to a new continent. But Brazil is already host to another global event, the 2014 World Cup.

Madrid has widespread public support and more than three-quarters of its sporting facilities in place. But the Madrid bid comes on the heels of the 2012 Summer Games in London.

Tokyo also runs up against recent history. Beijing was the host of the 2008 Summer Games.

In many ways, Chicago's bid is compelling. It weaves together the disparate parts of the city, particularly in areas south of the downtown Loop. An athletes' village is planned for a site south of the McCormick Place convention center. Track and field and swimming are to be staged in temporary facilities in Washington Park near the University of Chicago campus.

"Yes, we can afford to take several years out of our lives to become the one and only place in 2016 for people to gather for sports," said Cecilia Butler, president of the Washington Park Advisory Council. "Those that cannot afford several years of their lives to be dedicated to the Olympics in their hometown are selfish."

Not everyone agrees with Butler, though. A recent Chicago Tribune-WGN poll showed 47% of city residents supported the Games, while 45% opposed them.
Heavy lobbying

Still, Chicago is pulling out all the stops to win, its delegation led by first lady Michelle Obama. The delegation will include Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, talk-show host Oprah Winfrey and several former Olympians. The committee may still be holding out hope for a surprise appearance by President Barack Obama.

A Chicago victory would boost Madison's prominence as a premier cycling center. The area is already home to thousands of riders and several cycling companies.

"We'd be extremely excited to host the world in our neighborhood," said Dean Gore, director of marketing for Waterloo-based Trek Bicycle Corp.
The bid envisions a time trial on the city's streets, a road race from Madison to Blue Mound State Park and mountain biking at Tyrol Basin in Mount Horeb.

Why bring some Olympic cycling events to Madison? It's all about the topography. A proposed road course in the Chicago area was simply too flat.

"The goal of the Olympics is to find the best cyclist to win that race," said Robbie Ventura, a former professional rider who grew up in Kenosha and helped design the proposed Olympic road course in Wisconsin. "The rider who wins this race is not only going to have to be a great tactician, but a great climber."

Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said if the Olympics come to Madison, they would be a boon to the community, not just during the Games.
"We think that people would visit our city just to ride the course, both before and for years after the event," he said.

Cieslewicz said the city can handle Olympic-sized crowds, especially since the Games will occur while most undergraduates are on summer break from the University of Wisconsin.

"We deal with large crowds on a weekly basis here in Madison," he said. "We have UW football games, the Ironman competition, any number of running and cycling events where we have to shut down streets. We handle Halloween."

Both Cieslewicz and Barrett also hope that a Chicago Games would speed development of high-speed rail on a corridor from Chicago to Milwaukee to Madison.

"I think this is by far our best opportunity to get high-speed rail between Chicago and Milwaukee," Barrett said.

Barrett said he anticipates that Milwaukee will benefit from an economic spillover of a Chicago Olympics, with some spectators traveling to the Games from southeastern Wisconsin. While the vast majority of events will be in Chicago, equestrian competition will be held at Tempel Farms in Old Mill Creek, Ill., 45 miles south of Milwaukee.

Barrett said Milwaukee could serve as a training base for various teams and would be available for pre-Olympic competitions as athletes prepare for their events.

Milwaukee is also among several pilot cities due to participate in World Sport Chicago, a program targeted to increase sports participation among youth, especially in central cities.

"The plan of World Sport Chicago will move forward regardless of whether Chicago lands a bid," Barrett said.

But, in Wisconsin, there are many people hoping that Chicago wins the Games.

On Friday, Cieslewicz plans to watch the announcement of the 2016 winner on television at a reception in Madison.

"I'll be there with my fingers crossed," he said.

[Islandman]

Obama vs Pele

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090929/...ids_rio_pele_2

Pele unfazed by Obama backing Chicago's bid

By JAN M. OLSEN, Associated Press Writer Jan M. Olsen, Associated Press Writer
Tue Sep 29, 9:13 am ET

COPENHAGEN – Brazilian soccer great Pele isn't worried President Barack Obama's star power could help Chicago win the bid for the 2016 Olympics at the expense of Rio de Janeiro.

Rio is seen as a slight favorite ahead of Friday's vote by the International Olympic Committee, but Obama's decision to fly into Copenhagen for the final presentation could swing the ballot in Chicago's favor. Madrid and Tokyo are the other candidates.

However, Pele said Tuesday that Rio "doesn't compete with Obama. We are competing against Madrid, against Tokyo, against Chicago."

The 68-year-old Pele pointed out that Rio is also bringing some big names.

"If they have Obama, we have Lula, we have Pele," he said, referring to Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Obama announced Monday that he will go to Copenhagen, joining first lady Michelle Obama to support his adopted home town's bid.

Rio also has a charismatic bid team, and is arguing that it is South American's turn to host its first Olympics.

"We have some reason to believe in Rio de Janeiro, not only Rio but South America, because we have never had the Olympics," Pele said after watching Danish teenagers playing soccer in two Copenhagen neighborhoods.

Rio gained IOC praise for having strong public support, a stable economy and experience from hosting the Pan American Games in 2007. Rio also is hoping to gain points for its fun-loving people and natural beauty, with mountains covered with thick green jungle towering above gorgeous beaches.

The Brazilian candidate has been successful in reducing crime recently, but news about crime in Brazil's second-largest city remains a common occurrence.

"Rio doesn't have any problems," Pele said. "The city, the economy is very good. The only country that didn't suffer with the (financial crisis) is Brazil."

[MdmeX]

Give it to Rio!

US has hosted 3 summer games (1932 & 1984 Los Angeles, 1996 Atlanta) and at least 3 winter games (1960 Squaw Valley, 1980 Lake Placid, 2002 - Salt Lake)

[Islandman]

Agreed! Mek some of the emerging G20 countries get dem chance.