Chicago is My Home

04
Jun

Chicago Joins Tokyo, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro as Finalist For 2016 Olympics

Author: Adam Fendelman, Category: Business

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CHICAGO – City officials and planning committee members in Chicago celebrated on Wednesday as the International Olympic Committee announced that Chicago will be a finalist to host the 2016 summer Olympics.

Meeting in Athens, Greece, the Olympic committee whittled down the pool of potential cities to four. They now include Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro. Eliminated were Prague, Czech Republic; Doha, Qatar; and Baku, Azerbaijan.

“We as Chicagoans are proud to be representing our country. The fact that Chicago was again selected as a candidate city is an incredible honor and reaffirms the many attributes of our region,” said Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce CEO Jerry Roper in a Wednesday statement.

The International Olympic Committee scores and ranks competing bids based on a myriad of factors in order to determine the city most capable of hosting a successful Olympics.

Chicago’s bid was two years in the making and includes plans for $900 million in construction. If the bid were accepted, the city would commit to building an all-purpose stadium for track and field as well as venues for swimming, tennis, canoeing, gymnastics and more.

All four finalists are well equipped to host the games and the contest is likely to be a close one. City officials in Chicago will spend then next 18 months pressing their case for Chicago to members of the Olympic committee.

The city will submit a “bid book” in Feb. 2009 that gives a detailed description of how the city would host the games. The final vote will take place in Nov. 2009.

By Megan O’Neil