April 15, 2007
The City of Chicago has been chosen as the United States Applicant City for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) chose Chicago, which has never hosted an Olympics, over the 1932 and 1984 hosts Los Angeles.
"On behalf of the United States Olympic Committee, we would like to congratulate Chicago on its selection as our Applicant City," said USOC Chairperson, Peter Ueberroth. "Our ultimate goal at the outset was to identify the U.S. city with the best chance of competing internationally. In Chicago and Los Angeles, we had two outstanding bids and we are confident that Chicago is positioned to be competitive in the international field and will make our country proud."
Chicago will now submit a bid to the International Olympic Committee in September 2007, and the host city will be chosen on October 2, 2009. Other cities likely to bid for the Games include Prague, Rome and Tokyo. As the 2008 and 2012 Games are to be held in Asia and Europe respectively, it is likely that a city in the Americas would be favorites for the Games. The United States last held the Games in Atlanta in 1996.
Chicago's bid involves construction of an Olympic Stadium in Washington Park on the city's South Side and an athlete's village on the shores of Lake Michigan. Existing venues such as Wrigley Field and Soldier Field may be used for some events. In contrast to Chicago, the Los Angeles bid involved existing facilities with no need for constructing new venues.
Sources
- "Chicago picked by USOC to bid for 2016 Olympics". SI.com, April 14, 2007
- Alan Abrahamson "Chicago to bid for 2016 Olympics". NBCSports.com, April 14, 2007
- "Chicago joins 2016 Olympic race". BBC News Online, April 14, 2007
- Press Release: "It's Chicago!". United States Olympic Committee, April 14, 2007
External links
Chicago2016.org official site of Chicago 2016 Committee
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