Chicago Throws Hat Into Ring(s)

Windy City officially joins race for 2016 Olympic Games
By Zach Samalin,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 14, 2007 12:41 PM CDT
Chicago Throws Hat Into Ring(s)
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, left, U.S. Sen and Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, center, and Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley, right, watch a video during a rally to celebrate the selection of Chicago as the U.S. representative in the international selection process for the 2016 Summer...   (Associated Press)

Chicago and six other cities kicked off the competition for the 2016 Olympics yesterday by filing official applications to play host to the Games. The other candidates are 1964 Summer Olympics host Tokyo; Rio de Janeiro; Prague; Madrid; Doha, Qatar; and Baku, Azerbaijan. Chicago is likely to be among the finalists when they're announced in June, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The handicapping is already in full swing. The other likely finalists are Madrid, Tokyo, and Rio, where this year's Pan Am Games took place. It would be the first South American Olympic host. Madrid faces a disadvantage—the 2012 Games will also take place in Europe. In Chicago's plus column: Six of the IOC's major sponsors are American companies. (More Chicago stories.)

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