Chicago Olympic team practices for big game
DENVER | Today's pitch a preview for IOC visit here next week
Mayor Daley and a group of organizers pushing to host the 2016 Summer Olympics in Chicago will be in Denver today to make a pitch before the sports world.
The mile-high city is hosting the international Sportaccord convention, considered the largest assembly of world sports organizations, including the International Olympic Committee executive board -- which ultimately decides who will get the Summer Games.
(John H. White/Sun-Times)
Police union may picket City Hall during Olympic visit Chicago Olympic team practices for big game
Representatives from the three other finalist cities -- Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo -- also are expected to make their cases for hosting the Summer 2016 Games.
For 20 minutes this afternoon, the mayor, Chicago 2016 Chairman Pat Ryan and others will make the case for holding the Summer Games in a major metropolitan city on a lakefront.
Earlier this week in Chicago, local 2016 organizers let reporters see a slick digital marketing video -- a work that was still in progress --that will be aired today. The video aims to give the uninitiated their geographical bearings with an aerial view of the city's various Olympic sites. The message? That this big urban lakefront city is manageable for athletes and fans to navigate, Chicago 2016 organizers say.
A question-and-answer session is not expected, so it's unlikely there will be discussion of the $4.8 billion price tag for the Games here.
Chicago organizers said their financial safety net includes a $450 million "rainy day fund," as much as $375 million in IOC cancellation insurance, another $500 million in insurance coverage and a "last resort" $500 million guarantee of taxpayer money from the City of Chicago.
In Springfield, the Illinois House OKd legislation setting up a state guarantee of $250 million, a move backed by Gov. Quinn.
The presentation is one in a series the bid committee has made on the road, they hope, to winning the Olympics. But this one comes a week before the big show -- when the IOC's evaluation commission brings its collective magnifying glass to Chicago for a closer look at the proposal.
The Denver presentation comes on a week of mixed messages about Chicago's chances to win the Summer Games. Gamesbids.com noted Chicago fell to last place because of funding issues. But there is word that President Obama -- viewed by some as the ace in the hole -- may speak on his hometown's behalf in Copenhagen, where the final decision will be announced Oct. 2.
A spokesman for the Chicago 2016 committee said the group is "confident" as it makes its case today.