Chicago dodges bullet

[Theben]

I think Chicago being knocked out first is a clear message of the boards Anti American feelings. Toyko had pretty much given up and was just going through the motions. For them to last past Chicago is a real clear message.

Dunno, the euro oddsmakers had Chicago higher than Rio.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I think Chicago being knocked out first is a clear message of the boards Anti American feelings.

Or, you know, wanting to give it to places that haven't had in a while, rather than a country that has had the Summer and Winter Games within the last 15 years. But, keep on plugging anti-American feelings

[Theben]

Frosty was on the board.

[Ming]

Or, you know, wanting to give it to places that haven't had in a while, rather than a country that has had the Summer and Winter Games within the last 15 years. But, keep on plugging anti-American feelings

Just stating opinion, not plugging anything. Most of the "experts" who went through the bids had Chicago as the first or second strongest Bid. Also, Toyko had pretty much given up... While I'm not saying that Chicago/America should automatically win, I am saying that by knocking them out first, it is a message.

Again, I hope Rio wins for a lot of reasons... It would be good for South America. But I think the voting in the first round says it all.

[-Jrabbit]

I wonder if one of the problems here is that Rio drew a lot of votes from the Latin American nations that would otherwise have gone to Chicago. I know very little about how the IOC voting body is comprised, so it's just a thought.

[Swissy]

The deck was stacked against Chicago from the onset, and most observers completely missed it. As -Jrabbit said, the Latin American votes usually support a western hemisphere bid, with two this cycle they went with Rio. Without that base of votes to start with Chicago had to get a good amount of support from the African delegates. The first round elimination of Chicago and Madrid making final two suggests Madrid took a larger percentage of those votes.

[Winston]

Travelling to promote the Olympics is just out of Obama's pay range, that's all.

[DinoDoc]

First round elimination. OUCH

Given the fact that around 1/2 of the city didn't want it, shouldn't that be yay!

[-Jrabbit]

It's official: Rio de Janeiro wins it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/03/sports/03olympics.html?_r=1&hp

[DinoDoc]

It was hilarious checking out fox news making fun of Obama for going saying he would be wasting time instead of running the country.

Hostility prolly had something to do with wasting his prestige on something useless.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Rio

[DanS]

From what little I saw of the Chicago bid, there was some iffy stuff in there. The olympic stadium for $350 million seemed way off. The olympic island could have been cool, but wouldn't it have blocked a lot of area on the water?

Usually, big events like this don't make sense -- and sometimes they get way out of hand and bankrupt a city or country. That said, the World's Fair helped put Chicago on the map.

[Imran Siddiqui]

The deck was stacked against Chicago from the onset, and most observers completely missed it. As -Jrabbit said, the Latin American votes usually support a western hemisphere bid, with two this cycle they went with Rio. Without that base of votes to start with Chicago had to get a good amount of support from the African delegates. The first round elimination of Chicago and Madrid making final two suggests Madrid took a larger percentage of those votes.

Truth. They were blinded by their nationalism / pro-Obama love. Having the first South American Olympics was likely a massive draw for the Latin American votes.

[OzzyKP]

Rio

[rah]

Of course Europe has such a ridiculous % of the votes.
That should be changed. 44 of 97.

There are 97 votes up for grabs in the first round.

They include 11 from Latin America, which includes the Caribbean, 10 from Asia, eight from the Middle East, 16 from Africa, five from Australia and the Pacific island nations, three from North America, and 44 from Europe.