Today’s column from CBS Chicago …
(CBS) Whether you were in favor of Chicago getting the 2016 Summer Olympics or not, one thing is becoming increasingly clear.
Chicago should have gotten the 2016 Summer Olympics.
On Thursday, news broke that Olympics officials have become so concerned that Brazil might not be ready to host the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro that they’ve enacted a series of emergency measures to jump-start preparations woefully delayed by “sluggish construction, labor strife and governmental chaos.”
“We believe that Rio can and will deliver an excellent Games if the appropriate actions are being taken now,” IOC president Thomas Bach said, with that discomforting “if” noticeably left hanging in the air.
According to reports, the IOC boss stopped short of ruling out the possibility that the competition might be shifted elsewhere, telling reporters, “What I can say categorically is that we will do everything we can to make these Games a success.”
If the 2016 Summer Games were to be shifted – and what a mess that would be – I think it’s safe to say they wouldn’t be shifted to Chicago. But what I’ve been wondering of late is how Chicagoans might feel if a different Summer Games – those of the 2024 variety – end up being hosted by an American city other than ours.
Continue reading at CBSChicago.com …
Dave, while Rio has not exactly worked out well, the Chicago bid was rejected because it was awful – not because the IOC wanted to embarrass the President. No one in the know can understand why the proposal was so bad – but it was. For example, just to the SW of the City you have Lake Calumet – which today is a forgotten backwater of a lake begging to be turned into a park. It was repeatedly pointed out to Chicago organizers as a great opportunity for a rowing/paddling/triathlon venue AND a world-class restoration project – clean up a lake, create a park, plant a forest. One of the senior members of the IOC is the former head of the international rowing body. They looked at the Rube Goldberg proposal for a wildly expensive and temporary flat water venue on Lake Michigan as a joke. In fact they did joke about it. They were very up front months before hand that temporary venues like that were not a good idea. People pointed out the IOCs bias in favor of restoration, healthy activities, legacies, parks, etc. – but Chicago ignored all of that. And the lake is just one of many examples of pig-headedness on display.
Rio is no prize, but Chicago had no shot, ever.
The Olympics are gone, but the opportunity to turn Lake Calumet into a park and a world class rowing venue still exists…