[ETWolverine]

Interesting.

Rio wins right to host the 2016 Olympics - Olympics - Yahoo! Sports

Rio wins right to host the 2016 Olympics

By JOHN LEICESTER, AP Sports Writer 18 minutes ago

COPENHAGEN (AP)—Finally, South America gets an Olympics. The 2016 Games are going to Rio de Janeiro.

In a vote of high drama, the bustling Brazilian carnival city of beaches, mountains and samba beat surprise finalist Madrid, which got a big helping hand from a very influential friend.

Chicago was knocked out in the first round—in one of the most shocking defeats ever in International Olympic Committee voting. Even Tokyo, which had trailed throughout the race, did better—eliminated after Chicago in the second round.

Rio spoke to IOC members' consciences: the city argued that it was simply unfair that South America has never hosted the games, while Europe, Asia and North America have done so repeatedly.

“It is a time to address this imbalance,” Brazil's charismatic president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, told the IOC's members before they voted. “It is time to light the Olympic cauldron in a tropical country.”


The bearded former union leader disappeared into a huge group hug with the joyous Rio team after IOC president Jacques Rogge announced that the city won. Football great Pele had tears in his eyes.

Madrid's surprising success in reaching the final round came after former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch made an unusual appeal for the Spanish capital, reminding the IOC's members as he asked for their vote that, at age 89, “I am very near the end of my time.”

Samaranch ran the IOC for 21 years before Rogge took over in 2001.
Chicago had long been seen as a front-runner and got the highest possible level of support—from President Barack Obama himself. But he only spent a few hours in the Danish capital where the vote was held and left before the result was announced. Former IOC member Kai Holm said that the brevity of his appearance may have counted against him.

The short stopover was “too business-like,” Holm said. “It can be that some IOC members see it as a lack of respect.”

Senior Australian IOC member Kevan Gosper surmised that Asian voters may have banded together for Tokyo in the first round, at Chicago's expense.

“I'm shocked,” Gosper said. “The whole thing doesn't make sense other than there has been a stupid bloc vote.”

He worried that the shock exit could do “untold damage” to the already testy relations between the IOC and the U.S. Olympic Committee. They had recent flare-ups over revenue sharing and a USOC TV network.

“To have the president of the United States and his wife personally appear, then this should happen in the first round is awful and totally undeserving,” Gosper said.

The European-dominated IOC's last two experiences in the United States were marked by controversy: the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics were sullied by a bribery scandal and logistical problems and a bombing hit the 1996 Games in Atlanta.

Obama had held out the enticing prospect of a Chicago games helping to reconnect the United States with the world after the presidency of George W. Bush. He told the IOC earlier Friday that the “full force of the White House” would be applied so “visitors from all around the world feel welcome and will come away with a sense of the incredible diversity of the American people.”

Now, Chicago can only rue what might have been. And Obama's gamble of expending his own political capital on the bid backfired.

The last U.S. city to bid for the Summer Games, New York, did scarcely better. It was ousted in the second round in the 2005 vote that gave the 2012 Games to London.

Tokyo did better than many expected by reaching the second round. It had offered reassurances of financial security, with $4 billion already banked for the games.

But the fact that the Olympics were held only last year in Asia, in Beijing, handicapped the Japanese capital's bid.

Its plans for a highly compact games, sparing athletes tiring travel by holding all but the shooting within 5 miles of the city center, were technically appealing. But the bid failed to generate real enthusiasm, even in Japan. Tokyo had the lowest public backing in IOC polls.

Tokyo's final presentation Friday to the IOC, while smooth and heartfelt, lacked the buzz that the Obamas and Rio generated. In short, Tokyo was simply overshadowed, failing to convince IOC members that it really wanted or needed the games.

AP Sports Writer Stephen Wilson contributed to this report from London.

I guess that Obama isn't quite as convincing as he thinks he is in the public arena. The whole point of him going to Coppenhagen was to "close the deal" and bring the Olympics to Chicago. Speculation was that the decision had already been made in Chicago's favor, and Obama's presence was just supposed to be icing on the cake, but that speculation seems to have been off-base. But in any case, Obama went there to wrap the whole thing up in a nice little bow and bring it home.

If Obama lacks the ability to convince the IOC to accept Chicago as the site of the 2016 Olympics... which, let's face it, isn't all that important in the grand scheme of things... what makes anyone think that he can convince Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to lay down his nuclear ambitions? Or convince China to end their abuses of civil rights? Or convince the Taliban to lay down their arms and become allies of the USA? Or convince Kim Jong Il to release the next set of hostages his soldiers kidnap?

Frankly, the whole "messianic" façade is wearing thin. More and more often, "Yes We Can" is turning out to be "No He Can't". Obama ain't all that... even among the European elites he so admires, respects and wants to be like.

Elliot

[speechlesstx]

But hey, he did sign an executive order banning texting while driving for federal employees so he has accomplished something.

[earl237]

I'm glad Chicago didn't get the games. The city's high crime rate was giving it a bad image. It's nice to see that political correctness didn't prevail as usual. I thought that Chicago would be given the games just so the IOC wouldn't look racist.

[Wondergirl]

I guess that Obama isn't quite as convincing as he thinks he is in the public arena.

Oh, for pete's sake, Eliot. Rio was always the suspected first choice. It was time for S.A. to host the games which have never been held there. Mayor Daley was hot for the Olympics and got President Obama on the bandwagon finally. Much of Chicago was against it. Now Daley can use that money to fight crime and drug traffickers and dogfighting.

The world is much friendlier to the U.S. now than it was under swashbuckler Bush.

[earl237]

I heard that Geneva will bid for the 2018 winter games. This would be long overdue because Geneva is a fantastic city.

[tomder55]

I also was glad when NYC lost it's bid a few years ago... but for a different reason... It's hard enough to navigate through traffic here now without that specticle .

I'm glad Chicago didn't get the games. The city's high crime rate was giving it a bad image. It's nice to see that political correctness didn't prevail as usual. I thought that Chicago would be given the games just so the IOC wouldn't look racist.

If the President wants to use his exensive influence to some good then perhaps he should huddle with the city leaders and attempt to solve the terrible violent crime that has plagued the city .

Do you think that he would ever own up to his culpabiltiy in the tragic crime wave that crested this week with the clubbing death of Derrion Albert right before the city made it's case to the IOC ? Or the very public triple homicide of the Jennifer Hudson family ? That as a State Senator he helped pass a series of crime laws one more lenient than the next ? He and the State leaders were and are soft on crime and they are reaping what they sowed.

Now ,instead of attempting to throw bones to his corrupt slumlord buddies like Tony Rezko and Valerie Jarrett ,as well as the inevidible graft from the Daley machine when bids for contracts related to the Olympics coming to town ; the city leaders can get down to honestly fixing what is wrong with the 2nd City .

[tomder55]

Oh, for pete's sake, Eliot. Rio was always the suspected first choice.

He should not have gone on the junket if he couldn't close the deal. But this is sort of like the way he negotiates with the Ruskies and the Mahdi-hatter .

[artlady]

Oh, for pete's sake, Eliot. Rio was always the suspected first choice. It was time for S.A. to host the games which have never been held there. Mayor Daley was hot for the Olympics and got President Obama on the bandwagon finally. Much of Chicago was against it. Now Daley can use that money to fight crime and drug traffickers and dogfighting.

The world is much friendlier to the U.S. now than it was under swashbuckler Bush.

Swashbuckler Bush ! I love it! I haven't heard that term very often,except in novels but it is so apt as to be comical! :)
I have no greenies but I would give you a bunch just for the laugh!

[tomder55]

You know... I'm wondering if the IOC gave the award to Rio as payback for Brazil's giving Zelaya sanctuary in their embassy??

[paraclete]

I'm glad Chicago didn't get the games. The city's high crime rate was giving it a bad image. It's nice to see that political correctness didn't prevail as usual. I thought that Chicago would be given the games just so the IOC wouldn't look racist.

How could they look racist if they gave it to Rio. I think, in fact, that your comment is racist, suggesting anyone elsewhere in the world gives a damn about about what the US might think and should kowtow to the US because it is led by a coloured man. Do you think rejecting the US because Obama has a permanent suntan is racist, or because some dark skinned Americans live in Chicago. Grow up

[excon]

Hello again, tom:

You mean the IOC thinks a military coup happened too. Wow. You guys just don't get ANY support, do you?

excon

[Wondergirl]

He should not have gone on the junket if he couldn't close the deal. But this is sorta like the way he negotiates with the Ruskies and the Mahdi-hatter .

Did you notice he didn't spend much of the week there like some of the others did? President Obama was licked before he started - whether Chicago got the games, his presence or absence in Copenhagen would have been under fire. So at least make a cameo appearance to keep Daley happy. Rio was the favorite; Chicago knew that. Even Michael Jordan didn't show up.

Much of Chicago is glad they lost. A large bird and butterfly sanctuary would have been razed, the city would have gone into overdrive with graft and corruption, traffic would have been horrendous during the games.

[tomder55]

the city would have gone into overdrive with graft and corruption, traffic would have been horrendous during the games.

On that we agree. I'm sure some of Valerie Jarrett's properties would've been razed also to construct the Olympic village( Grove Parc ?).

[earl237]

He should not have gone on the junket if he couldn't close the deal. But this is sorta like the way he negotiates with the Ruskies and the Mahdi-hatter .

I'm not a hundred percent sure about this, but isn't the term "Ruskie" outdated and a bit offensive nowadays? It would be like calling blacks negroes or colored, or calling Chinese, Japanese and Germans chinks, japs and krauts. People are outraged when non-white people are called names, but white people seem to be fair game for insults. There shouldn't be a double standard.

[excon]

Frankly, the whole "messianic" facade is wearing thin. More and more often, "Yes We Can" is turning out to be "No He Can't". Obama ain't all that... even among the European elites he so admires, respects and wants to be like.

Hello Elliot:

Why do you hate America so much?

excon

[tomder55]

It would be like calling blacks negroes or colored

Isn't the term "blacks " outdated ? I could've sworn the PC term was African-American. Hard to keep track .

[tomder55]

He should not have gone on the junket if he couldn't close the deal.

There has been a growing narrative taking hold about Barack Obama's presidency in recent weeks: that he is loved by many, but feared by none; that he is full of lofty vision, but is actually achieving nothing with his grandiloquence.
Chicago's dismal showing yesterday, after Mr Obama's personal, impassioned last-minute pitch, is a stunning humiliation for this President. It cannot be emphasised enough how this will feed the perception that on the world stage he looks good — but carries no heft.

Obama’s Olympic failure will only add to doubts about his presidency - Times Online#

Although Mr Obama spent only a few hours in the Danish capital, and although other leaders were there to bat on behalf of their cities, Barack and Michelle Obama couched their pitches in biographical terms. By personalising Chicago's appeal, Mr Obama put his own reputation on the line.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fe009f4e-a...44feabdc0.html

So at least make a cameo appearance to keep Daley happy.

Exactly... but the President should remember he is no longer in the Daley machine and owes them nothing . This was a bad move that resonates beyond Daley Square.

[Wondergirl]

Exactly ....but the President should remember he is no longer in the Daley machine and owes them nothing . This was a bad move that resonates beyond Daley Square.

Oh, piffle!! And he was never in the Daley machine.

[speechlesstx]

Oh, piffle!!!! And he was never in the Daley machine.

He may not have been "in" the Daley machine but the Daley machine was "in" for Obama.

[Wondergirl]

He may not have been "in" the Daley machine but the Daley machine was "in" for Obama.

So what? Obama made his cameo appearance in Copenhagen, took the opportunity to meet with McChrystal who was in nearby London, and then, within a few hours, flew back to Chicago. It was a productive jaunt.