2016 bid team hits world stage

OLYMPICS | Chicago team watches, learns, meets and greets at sports conference in China

That was the essence of Chicago's first foray into international Olympic circles since being picked as the U.S. candidate for the 2016 Summer Games.

"It's been very constructive to be here," Patrick Ryan, chairman of the Chicago committee, said Thursday. "We made some new relationships and learned a lot about the whole process."

Ryan led an eight-person Chicago delegation at the SportAccord conference in Beijing, one of the largest gatherings of sports industry leaders in the world. More than 1,000 delegates were on hand at the Shangri-La Hotel, including senior International Olympic Committee members, sports federation leaders, television executives and corporate sponsor CEOs.

The trip came less than two weeks after the U.S. Olympic Committee chose Chicago over Los Angeles as America's 2016 bid city. It's the start of a long process that will culminate with the IOC selection of the host city in 2009.

The Chicago team also included executive director Mike Conley, a former Olympic triple jump champion, and operations chief Doug Arnot.

The Chicago bid follows New York's humbling fourth-place finish in the voting for the 2012 Summer Games, which were awarded to London. This time, a U.S. candidate shapes up as a strong contender -- if not favorite -- in a field that should include Madrid, Spain; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Rome; Tokyo, and Prague, Czech Republic.

"People don't have in-depth knowledge of our bid, but they are aware of the tough bid competition we went through in the U.S.," Ryan said.

U.S. IOC member Anita DeFrantz said some delegates asked her why the USOC didn't pick Los Angeles or why New York didn't run again, but that Chicago's candidacy had received mostly positive reactions so far.

"I think there's an interest, there's an openness," she said. "It's different. It's new."

By the time of the 2016 Olympics, 20 years will have passed since the last Summer Games in the United States (Atlanta 1996).

Luciano Barra, a longtime international sports administrator from Italy who has been involved in numerous bids and helped run the 2006 Turin Winter Games, views Chicago as the early favorite.

"It's the first time we see a candidature from the U.S. which is presented in a way that is not just a private business," he said. "This is the first time we see something close to what is expected." AP