Chicago makes Olympic pitch

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-18 07:53

LAUSANNE, Switzerland: Chicago led off the presentations yesterday of the four cities bidding for the 2016 Olympics, stressing strong support from the White House and offering financial guarantees for the multi-billion-dollar project.

Bid leader Pat Ryan and Mayor Richard M. Daley led a six-person delegation that made a 45-minute formal pitch to members of the International Olympic Committee, followed by a lengthy question-and-answer session.

"It was a good discussion," Ryan said. "There were lots of good questions, very healthy dialogue. We would have been worried if there weren't a lot of questions."

Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid were to deliver their presentations later.

The closed-door sessions, held at the Olympic Museum and attended by 93 of the IOC's 107 members, are seen as a crucial test ahead of the final vote by the IOC assembly in Copenhagen on Oct 2.

It's the first time the IOC has arranged such a forum for bid cities. With IOC delegates barred from visiting bid cities, this gives bid teams a chance to explain their plans directly to the voters and answer their questions.

Budget plans and financial guarantees came under extra scrutiny in yesterday's presentations. Senior Australian IOC member Kevan Gosper said Chicago answered the financial questions "more than adequately".

"There were no doubts left in the presentation about the capacity for Chicago to finance the games," he said.

(China Daily 06/18/2009 page11)