Flame out for Chicago in bidding for 2016 Olympics

Rio de Janeiro captures sporting prize

By Kathy Bergen and Philip Hersh - Tribune reporters

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COPENHAGEN — It was the kind of stinging defeat Chicago sports fans know all too well.Mayor Richard Daley took one grand shot at landing the Olympics, devoting more than three years to an effort that involved thousands of volunteers and more than $72 million in donations, but in the end Chicago was done in by a combination of Rio de Janeiro’s more compelling story line and the quirky politics of Olympic voting. 

Despite an appearance by President Barack Obama at the final presentations Friday, Chicago’s candidacy landed with a thud. The city was ousted in the first round of voting for the 2016 Games, rejected before the mayor’s car could even arrive back at the convention center to witness the drama of the International Olympic Committee vote. He had the car turned around and headed straight to a suddenly deflated Chicago backers’ party.

Back in Chicago, the celebration also ended practically as quickly as it began. Would-be revelers arrived at Daley Center and other locations expecting a tense morning culminating in a victory announcement just before noon locally. Instead, Chicago was out of the running by about 10:15 a.m.

Chicago’s main pitch was to put on games along the spectacular backdrop of Lake Michigan. That turned out to be no match for Rio, not because the beach at Ipanema outshines Oak Street, but because of a more powerful geographic symbolism. Time and time again in this intense contest, Rio de Janeiro hammered away at the fact that an organization devoted to international understanding through sport had never deigned to give the games to South America.

Rio’s argument won the day, and the games, over Madrid in the third and final round of voting, 66-32. Chicago got the least votes in round one and was eliminated, followed out the door by Tokyo in round two.

“I wouldn’t say it was a negative vote (against Chicago) as much as it was a positive vote for Brazil and the idea of having games in the southern hemisphere,” said Richard Carrion, an International Olympic Committee member from Puerto Rico. “I analyze it more that Brazil had a better idea.”

For Chicago, this is the end of the road for this particular pursuit, at least in the short term. Daley ruled out a bid for 2020, saying it was highly unlikely the IOC would return to the Americas so quickly.

About three hours after Chicago was eliminated, Daley made his first public statement, saying he was disappointed, “but you go on with your life.”

IOC politics appeared to play a major role in explaining how Chicago, which many saw as the favorite, was eliminated so quickly. The first round of voting is always the most unpredictable, with regional allies often promising to back friends, or conspiring to gang up on a specific challenger.

In this case, friends of Rio may have formed alliances to quickly eliminate Chicago, its most significant threat, said Richard Pound, an IOC member from Canada.

“That’s sport politics, not anything else,” he said, adding that the Europeans and the Asians are much better at this maneuvering than are North Americans. “We kind of think if you’ve got the best bid, the world will recognize that, and these decisions are made solely on the merits of the bid. Well, not solely.”

Another factor in Chicago’s vote failure appeared to be the sometimes fractious relationship between the United States Olympic Committee and the IOC. The two sides have sparred over issues such as TV contract revenue, potentially alienating some IOC members.

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2016 Olympics: Cliffhanger in Copenhagen fills air with electric anticipation

Bid teams are nervous about close vote, and Chicago’s star, Oprah Winfrey, creates a stir wherever she goes

By Kathy Bergen and Philip Hersh Tribune reporters

COPENHAGEN – — Eight-hundred-year-old Copenhagen, a former fishing colony that is now a blend of the fine and the funky, the historic and the sleekly modern, is a city on edge.

And the war of nerves is most evident among an unusual group of visitors: the 2016 Olympic bid teams from Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo, and their supporters, who are sweating out a vote Friday by the International Olympic Committee.

With this being the most evenly matched four-way Olympic bid race in recent memory, even those used to high tension are feeling the strain.

“I’m a little anxious,” Olympian basketball player and former NBA star David Robinson, a Chicago supporter, admitted at a bid backers cocktail party held just as the IOC was officially opening its annual meeting. “A lot of people have put in a ton of time in the last three years and a lot is riding on it for the city.”

Contributing to the war of nerves is the difficulty in predicting an outcome, not just because each candidate city has a strong bid, but because the IOC is notoriously hard to read and the elimination rounds of voting result in quickly shifting alliances as cities are dropped.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero tempered his optimism Thursday morning with recollections of the vote for the 2012 Summer Games, when Madrid was the top vote-getter in the second round of voting in Singapore, only to ultimately wind up third. London squeaked past Paris, the favorite to win those games.

“When that concluded, I took a reflection,” Zapatero said. “The thing is, with this type of election, there are different faces on it as bids are eliminated. It’s very hard to predict who will win the final vote.”

And it is hard to steer clear of the electric undercurrents in town. With sirens blaring and blue lights flashing, police cars have been whisking heads of state around town. Security guards at posh hotels have kept entrances cordoned off when VIPs were expected.

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Obama lobbies IOC to pick Chicago for 2016

President, first lady make presentations to IOC on Friday

COPENHAGEN – In a hometown pitch for the world’s biggest sporting event, President Barack Obama lobbied Olympic leaders to give the 2016 Summer Games to Chicago, saying the U.S. “is ready and eager to assume that sacred trust.”

The president and his wife, fellow Chicagoan Michelle Obama, put their capital behind an enormous campaign to win the Olympics bid. Never before had a U.S. president made such an in-person appeal.

“I urge you to choose Chicago,” Obama told members of the International Olympic Committee.

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“And if you do — if we walk this path together — then I promise you this: The city of Chicago and the United States of America will make the world proud,” the president said.

Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo have been making their cases to the IOC for more than a year, but many IOC members were believed to be undecided about which city they would vote for Friday. Some said they might not decide until after the cities made their final presentations in Copenhagen.

Both Obamas spoke on deeply personal terms about Chicago, the city at the center of the world’s spotlight so many times, including in November when Barack Obama won the White House and stood proudly with his family.

The president described Chicago as a place of diversity and warmth.

“Chicago is a place where we strive to celebrate what makes us different just as we celebrate what we have in common,” he said. “It’s a place where our unity is on colorful display … It’s a city that works from its first World’s Fair more than a century ago to the World Cup we hosted in the nineties, we know how to put on big events.”

For all the anticipation surrounding Obama’s appearance in Copenhagen, his arrival at the IOC meeting was decidedly subdued.

The 100-plus committee members, who had already been warned not show bias during the presentations, sat silently as the Obamas walked into the Bella Center with the rest of 12-member Chicago delegation.

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Obama: ‘Most American of American cities’

President Obama described himself as a “passionate supporter” of the Games and as “a proud Chicagoan.”

He said he looked forward to welcoming the world to the shores of Lake Michigan and America in 2016. “America is ready and eager,” he said.

He described his own association with and love for the city, noting it was the place where he met his wife. He cited Chicago’s ethnic diversity with “a rich tapestry of neighborhoods.”

Chicago is the “most American of American cities,” with more than 130 nations represented among its population, he said.

He harkened to his own background, how his family moved around a lot, how he lived without roots in Hawaii and Indonesia, but found a true home in Chicago 25 years ago.

“I came to Chicago, and on Chicago’s streets I worked along side men and women who were black and white, Latino and Asian. People in every class and nationality and religion,” he said.

He concluded by saying Chicago would make the IOC proud.

2:29 a.m. Michelle Obama: ‘Choose Chicago, choose America’

Michelle Obama, appearing slightly nervous at the outset, made an intensely personal presentation, talking about how the Olympics inspired her as a young girl and would do the same for the present generation of children.

She said the Games would be used “to bring us together” and “change lives all over the world.”

She said the Olympics “would light up lives across the world.”

“I was born and raised on Chicago’s South Side, not  far from where the Games will open and close… Sports are what brought a community together,” she said.

“We picked sides not on who you were, but what you could bring to the game.”

Sports, she said, is what she shared with her father.

‘I’m asking you to choose Chicago. I’m asking you to choose America,” she said.

2:21 a.m. Chicago called a good place for athletes

Brian Clay, the 2008 decathlon champion, and Linda Mastandrea, director of Paaralympic Sport and Accessibility for the city’s 2016 bid, said the city will be a good place for athletes to compete.

The cited the beauty of the city’s parks and its lakefront.

The city’s Olympic Village would put 90 percent of the athletes within 15 minutes of their venues, with spacious rooms and a private beach, Mastrandrea said.

–Kathy Bergen

2:15 a.m. More virtues: Corporate connections, shopping

Bid team leader Patrick Ryan stressed the city’s economic strength, noting the Midwest is home to hundreds of major corporations. The city, he said, will provide “fresh territory for expansion of sponsorships.”

He said the city’s shopping rivaled that of London and New York, and called Chicago “a safe city.”

“For the next seven years, we will focus exclusively on being your committed partners,” he said. “If so honored, we will begin tomorrow.”

–Kathy Bergen

2:07 a.m. Daley: ‘Chicago will deliver’

Mayor Daley was third up.

“Chicago will deliver,” he promised, “because in Chicago we just don’t talk about what we will do, we do it.”

He said the city’s bid had a “a full government guarantee with the enthusiastic appeal of the city’s leaders.”

“If you award us the Games, we will be your best partners,” he pledged.

At the beginning of his presentation, he cited Chicago’s connection to the Olympics through two of its premier athletes, Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalf, who competed in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

He noted they competed on behalf of a nation that would not give them, as African-Americans, basic rights. “Why? Because the Olympic Games represent something bigger,” he said.

--Kathy Bergen

1:55 a.m. Presentation begins with ‘Sweet Home Chicago’

Chicago has begun its presentation to the International Olympic Committee with a brief introduction by United States Olympic Committee member Anita DeFrantz and a video of the city to the strains of “Sweet Home Chicago.”

She was followed by Larry Probst, chairman of the USOC, who promised the city would “fulfill every obligation” to get the Olympics.

12:50 a.m. Obama arrives in Copenhagen

President Barack Obama arrived in Copenhagen this morning to help in Chicago’s final push for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Air Force One touched down at 12:50 a.m. Chicago time, 7:50 a.m. Copenhagen time. He will spend less than five hours on the ground.

He was greeted by a phalynx of Danish dignitaries. His motorcade left the airport 19 minutes later.

Later today, the IOC will choose among Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Madrid. That decision is scheduled to be announced shortly before noon Chicago time. There could be as many as three rounds of voting. After each round, assuming no city reaches a majority, the lowest vote-getter will be eliminated.

The city’s presentation to the IOC, led by First Lady Michelle Obama, is scheduled to begin at 1:45 a.m. Chicago is up first. It will have 45 minutes to make its case, with another 15 minutes for questions and answers. The president will answer questions.

Early handicapping has Rio has a slight favorite over Chicago. South America has never hosted an Olympics.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) was a late add-on to the traveling team accompanying Obama on Air Force One. Also aboard were two Cabinet members from Illinois, Secretary of Transporation Ray LaHood and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

Durbin said White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel was reluctant for the president to make the trip. Emanuel had told Durbin that Obama’s busy schedule, coupled with the fact that health care legislation is unresolved, made him skeptical about the Copenhagen venture.

The president joins his wife, Mayor Richard Daley, Oprah Winfrey and the remainder of Chicago’s bid team in Copenhagen to make Chicago’s case.

For earlier coverage on the Copenhagen countdown CLICK HERE.

Psychics weigh in on Chicago’s chances HERE.

Winfrey said the IOC vote could produce “a decision that could be a landmark in Chicago history.”

The president will speak Friday on behalf of Chicago’s bid and take questions from IOC members during the 15-minute question period after the 45-minute prepared presentation.

“He and the First Lady will both participate in the question and answer session,” Presidential advisor Valerie Jarrett said in a Wednesday interview with the Tribune and four other media outlets — one from Italy, one from Japan, one from Great Britain and another from the United States.

–Peter Nicholas, Jeff Finkelman

[ Updates from the Chicago Tribune ]

US first lady charms Aussie IOC members

Australian IOC members admit being greatly impressed by US first lady Michelle Obama as she conducts last-minute lobbying for hometown Chicago to host the 2016 Olympic Games.

John Coates, Kevan Gosper and Phil Coles all had meetings with Mrs Obama in her Marriott Hotel suite in Copenhagen as she greeted a stream of IOC members who must decide in a few hours time between Chicago, Madrid, Tokyo and Rio.

“You can’t help being swept away by her charm,” said Coates, the Australian Olympic Committee president, after his 20 minute meeting.

“She is obviously very proud of her city and its people and believes Chicago can stage a spectacular Olympic Games”.

Coates presented Mrs Obama with two Boxing Kangaroo soft toys for her daughters Malia Anne, 10, and Sasha, 7.

“The first lady stressed the importance of engaging in sport internationally.

“She emphasised the close friendship she and her husband share with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his wife Therese Rein.

Gosper was also highly impressed.

“She is an astonishing lady,” he said.

President Barack Obama was due in Copenhagen a few hours before the four bid cities present their final pitch to the 105 IOC members.

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Obama 2016 In Copenhagen – What Bid?

People in the streets of Copenhagen are buzzing about the events taking place in their city this week –  well at least the streets that are not blocked or shut down to accommodate the traveling dignitaries. But the murmur isn’t about the bids or the historic Olympic Congress – it’s all about the stars and the dignitaries that have become part of the package.

Today, local newspaper front pages and television top stories feature pictures of American First Lady Michelle Obama and Televison Queen Oprah Winfrey. Readers got a glimpse of Oprah shopping and signing autographs while Michelle Obama’s image was captured upon her arrival at the airport.  Along with those, other pages were splashed with candid photos of basketball great David Robinson, gymnastic legend Nadia Comaneci and runner Jackie Joyner-Kersee.

Do you notice a theme?  It seems that only the “stars” of Chicago’s bid are receiving huge media attention. Not only that, many on the streets aren’t entirely sure why the dignitaries are here.  Today one taxi driver, upon noticing the media credentials hanging around my neck, asked me if I was “going to that thing with the President tomorrow.”

Michelle Obama’s arrival Wednesday was worthy of about three hours of “breaking news” streaming across the screen of a local news channel.

But more importantly, does this infatuation with the celebrities exist among the IOC members?

Consider this.  At the Opening Ceremonies Thursday at the Copenhagen Opera House – after all of the attendees including world leaders, sports leaders and royalty had taken their seats – Michelle Obama’s motorcade arrived and she was escorted into the event and into her seat.  All eyes were fixed on the First Lady with an odd mix of a calming sense of awe, and excitement over the dress she chose to wear.  Oprah who?

Clearly, the Chicago 2016 bid committee must have been elated; and the other bid delegations could only sit there and try to smile.

Now, cue the President.  Reports of no-fly zones and rail closures in the Copenhagen vicinity have people guessing at what moment the U.S. leader will arrive, rumoured to be some time overnight or Friday morning.  And they are ready; “Copenhagen Loves Obama” T-Shirts are readily available on many street corners – buy 2 and get one free.

Also, in the news details of President Barack Obama’s visit have been outlined in great detail including diagrams of Air Force One, Navy One and his high tech limousine “The Beast”.

Will the Obama’s attendance for the Olympic bid presentation make a difference in the election?  I think it already has.

- Article Link

Poll: 43% say Olympics trip ‘bad idea’

By ANDY BARR

A plurality of Americans thinks President Barack Obama’s trip to Copenhagen to lobby International Olympic Committee officials was a “bad idea,” according to a poll released Thursday by Rasmussen Reports.

Forty-three percent of the 1,000 adults surveyed nationwide thought it was “a bad idea for the President to go overseas at this time to help Chicago make its final presentation to the Olympic Committee.” Thirty-six percent of respondents said it was a good idea and 21 percent were not sure.

Nearly half, 49 percent, said they are following the president’s trip at least somewhat closely. Roughly the same margin, 48 percent, said it was at least somewhat important that the games come to the president’s hometown of Chicago.

Obama has already arrived with his wife Michelle in Copenhagen to lobby on behalf of Chicago’s bid. Chicago is competing with Madrid, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro.

The president has been criticized this week by numerous top Republicans for leaving the country during the middle of a contentious healthcare debate to stump for the Olympics.

House Minority Leader John Boehner knocked the president Wednesday for going “off to Copenhagen when we’ve got serious issues here at home that need to be debated.”

“Listen I think it’s a great idea to promote Chicago but he’s the president of the United States, not the mayor of Chicago,” Boehner told reporters.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich also slammed Obama Tuesday during an interview with Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren.

“Faced with a deadline in Iran, faced with 9.7 percent unemployment—where is the president?” Gingrich asked. “He’s in Copenhagen, on behalf of Mayor Daley, trying to get the Olympics.”

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele added Tuesday that the

“First Lady should have been the lead” on the Olympics pitch.

“This trip, while nice, is not necessary for the president,” Steele said on a conference call with reporters. “If [health care] is that important, Mr. President, then stay home and get it done.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs fired back at Steele during Tuesday’s press briefing by asking “who’s he rooting for?”

“Is he hoping to hop a plane to Brazil and catch the Olympics in Rio?” Gibbs joked. “Maybe it’s Madrid.”

- Article Link

Photo Updates from Copenhagen and Bid Cities

Chicago 2016 Delegation

Bryan Clay from the U.S., the reigning Olympic champion for the decathlon speaks during a news conference held by the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid team

Former U.S. Olympic gymnast Bart Conner, flanked by his wife former Olympic gymnast Nadia Comaneci, third left, speaks during a news conference held by the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid team in Copenhagen

Former NBA basketball player Dikembe Mutombo speaks during a news conference held by the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid team in Copenhagen

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama is accompanied by senior White House advise Valerie Jarrett as they meet with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge at a hotel

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama meets with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge at a hotel in Copenhagen

Rio 2016 supporters cycle from the Bella Center to Copenhagen city center

Madrid 2016 logo on the 'Torre Picasso' building in Madrid

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva clasps hands with Rio de Janeiro 2016 bid team members after a press conference in Copenhagen

Former Olympic triple jumper Willie Banks clenches a fist after he and his bid team finished a bycicle ride in downtown Copenhagen

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, left, and his wife, Miyuki, wave at well-wishers as they leave Haneda International Airport in Tokyo

Photos Courtesy of AP/USA Today and the Chicago Tribune

Copenhagen Reports from the Tribune

Copenhagen countdown: ‘Everyone mezmerized by Oprah’

By Kathy Bergen

When Oprah Winfrey came into the lobby of the Copenhagen Marriott Thursday afternoon, friend and foe reached for cameras.

“Everyone is mesmerized by Oprah,” said Charmaine Crooks, an Olympian and former International Olympic Committee member from Canada.

One of those taking a picture of Chicago’s queen – of talk – was Maria Celeste Pedroso, secretary to the leader of Rio 2016 bid chairman Carlos Nuzman.

“So they love Oprah in Rio, too?” Pedroso was asked.

“Like all the world,” she said, with a smile.

Winfrey arrived with Mayor Richard M. Daley to join First Lady Michelle Obama in her meetings with IOC members.  Those meetings began Wednesday and were to continue until the members left by boat for the opening ceremony of the IOC session Thursday night at the Copenhagen Opera House.

“I’m just going into the room and whoever is there, I will talk to them,” Winfrey said.

The IOC members will choose the 2016 Summer Games host late Friday afternoon.

Decked out in a pumpkin dress, gold shoes, gold bracelets carrying sunglasses and a gold wallet, Winfrey did the meet and greet for about 10 minutes before heading up to the 4th floor room where Michelle Obama has been making Chicago’s case.

“I think the delegates (IOC members) have been very impressed with Michelle Obama and her presentation in talking to them,” Mayor Daley said.

Winfrey figured the first lady had to be impressing those to whom she spoke, based on her performance at a welcome dinner Wednesday night for the 300 Chicagoans who came here in support of the bid.

“When our first lady spoke last night, I felt even more hopeful than I have been,” Winfrey said.  “I think the sincerity and power with which she spoke, talking about what this will mean not only for the world community but particularly our own Chicago community, being able to have the youth of Chicago expose to this global world of athletes — I was very impacted by what she said.  And she was just talking to us.

“I was moved, and they already have my vote.”

As she left the lobby, Winfrey’s spirits clearly were high.

“It’s a seven-year party,” Winfrey said, “and the party could start tomorrow.”

–Philip Hersh

8:59 p.m. Spain: Sport, not Obama, will determine outcome

The Obama factor raised its head this afternoon as Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero touted Madrid’s 2016 Olympic bid at a press briefing in the elegant Hotel D’Angleterre.

Asked if the presence of U.S. President Barack Obama would sway votes, as then-Prime Minister Tony Blair was credited with doing for London’s 2012 bid, Zapatero said he believes International Olympic Committee members will weigh many factors.

“Sport is the most important one,” he said. “If that was not the case, the Olympic movement would not be able to maintain its strength.”

Madrid 2016 promotes the fact that Spain is the European champion in soccer, basketball and Davis Cup tennis. It also stresses its high level of public support, the strongest level among the four cities.

“This is a unified bid of a country fully immersed in sport,” the prime minister said.

Zapatero flew in Wednesday night and has been meeting with IOC members.

The prime minister will participate in Madrid’s final presentation, as will former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch Sr., an important figure in the Olympic movement.

strong>In talks with IOC members, Samaranch “was a great point of reference,” Zapatero said. “There is so much respect for him.”

–Kathy Bergen

7:19 a.m. Emotional moment for U.S. athletes

With one day left before the vote, a couple athletes who have been with Chicago’s bid since its inception, Linda Mastandrea and Mike Conley, were overcome with emotion at a press conference today.

Paralympian Mastandrea began crying as she described how her life story differed from the nearly two dozen Olympians standing behind her.

Mastandrea, speaking from her wheelchair, noted how many of the other athletes had been inspired to become Olympians after seeing  the Games  on television.

“I watched and was thinking, ‘I can’t be an Olympian because I have a a disability,’” she said.  “I never once thought I can be an athlete.”

That changed when Mastandrea arrived at the University of Illinois and met Paralympian Ann Cody, who introduced her to the university’s extensive disabled sports program.

“I was finding a part of myself,” Mastandrea said.

She went on to compete in the 1992 and 1996 Paralympics.

“What this movement offers is such power and possibilty for people to learn about themselves, about who they are and what they can do,” Mastandrea said.  ” It is amazing, life changing.”

Conley, the 1992 Olympic triple jump champion from Luther South High School, found his voice cracking as he talked, having been moved by Mastandrea’s words.

“Thank you,  Linda, for getting me all choked up before I speak,”  Conley said.

–Philip Hersh

7:14 a.m. Chicago the media darling in Copenhagen

The contest between Chicago and its rivals for the 2016 Olympics may be a tough call, but the Windy City appears to be the  media darling in town.

“I don’t know who has the big chance for the 2016, but the media has put a lot of focus on President Obama, Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey,” said Mads Aarup, a media relations staffer with the Danish Olympic Committee, which is co-sponsoring the Copenhagen Olympic Festival this week.

Brazil’s charismatic President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is garnering some attention too, he said, but not on the level of the American presence.

Aarup was among those orchestrating sporting demonstrations today in the city’s central plaza, in front of the City Hall.

TV coverage of the festival piqued the interest of Connie Andersen, a retired caterer who came to town from her home village 12 kilometers away to take it all in.

She, too, said Chicago is dominating the  airwaves, with crews reporting heavily on Winfrey’s travels about town as she tapes a show here.

“It brings a lot of attention to the city,” she said, “especially Oprah going around the city.”

Undaunted by intermittent rain, local residents joined media crews on the plaza around lunchtime as each bid city had contingents ride bikes into the square, ending 8-kilometer fun rides for supporters.

Dressed in royal blue warm-up jackets, Chicago’s contigent included Olympians and dignitaries, among them Mayor Richard Daley’s brother, Bill Daley.

The group chanted “Chi-ca-go” for TV cameras.

Preceding them into the plaza was the Rio de Janeiro group, in Kelly green jackets. They sang a rousing rendition of “Cidade Maravilhosa,” or Marvelous City.

–Kathy Bergen

5:04 a.m.: Tokyo outlines Olympics bid strategy

Toyko’s 2016 bid team, overshadowed here by more active rivals with star-studded delegations, said it will stick to its strategy of emphasizing its technical excellence in its final presentation Friday.

But its leaders stressed that they have a great deal of heart as well.

“You see sometimes Tokyo is said to be lacking in passion,”  Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said at a press briefing this morning. “But we are quite emotional. We want a good environment . . . to leave to our children and our grandchildren..”

Tokyo 2016 has stressed the green aspects of its bid, as well as the safety of the city and the strong financial backing it has for building games infrastructure.

A number of observers have expressed the view that Tokyo may be lagging Chicago, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid.

Tokyo bid chairman Dr. Ichiro Kono declined to compare his city to its rivals.

“We realize the many activities that the others are doing, but we prefer to focus on our own bid,” he said.

“We are ready, very excited and optimistic,” he said, adding there will be some surprising elements in Friday’s final presentation.

- Article Link

Olympics-Is something robotic in the state of Denmark?

By Kevin Fylan

COPENHAGEN, Oct 1 (Reuters) – The quest for the 2016 Olympics has felt like a rapidly escalating celebrity arms race and come Friday’s vote it could all culminate in a robot trying to upstage a president as real and sporting royalty look on.

A prime minister or president has become a must-have accessory for any serious bid after the instrumental role Tony Blair played in bringing the 2012 Olympics to London but the four candidate cities will not rely on statesmanship alone.

While they wait for the president, Chicago have been basking in the support of First Lady Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey, frequently cited as the most powerful woman in entertainment.

Madrid have actual royalty on their side in the towering figure of King Juan Carlos, while Rio de Janeiro can boast the sporting variety in the form of ‘O Rei’ himself, the footballing great Pele.

Tokyo have seemed a little light on star quality but that could all change at their presentation on Friday after bid officials said that POSY, the humanoid robot, could potentially be part of their plans.

So far that is little more than a rumour, but Tokyo, Rio and Madrid could certainly do with something spectacular if they are to ward off the Obama effect Chicago are hoping for.

Chicago hijacked the news agenda with Monday’s announcement that President Barack Obama would make a flying visit to address the International Olympic Committee.

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