Daley 'disappointed and shocked' Chicago lost Olympic bid
2020 Games out of the question
COPENHAGEN — There was no agony of defeat, but Mayor Daley said he’s “disappointed and shocked” that Chicago lost its bid — in stunning fashion — for the 2016 Olympics here today.
After a star-studded week for the American bid, including President Obama flying in this morning to make a formal final pitch for his adopted hometown, Chicago was knocked out of the four-way race in the first round of voting by the International Olympic Committee. In the end the Games went to Rio de Janeiro, marking the first time South America will host the Games.
(AP)
“You’re disappointed and go on with life,” the mayor said, calling this a “tough competition.”
Looking at the globe, he says a bid for the 2020 Games is out of the question because the IOC will likely want to move the Games out of the Western Hemisphere.
He praised the business sector and private citizens for ponying up the $70-plus million to finance the bid — stressing no state or local government dollars were expended.
Daley was en route to the Bella Center — Copenhagen’s McCormick Place — when he got the news that Chicago lost in the first of three rounds of voting. So he detoured back to a gathering of Chicago area supporters.
The mayor said he talked with President Obama, who was still on Air Force One flying back to the United States. He wouldn’t elaborate on the conversation other than to say he thanked the president and First Lady for coming to Copenhagen to speak Friday on behalf of their hometown.
“To see the president ... make an unbelievable speech. I was never prouder at any moment of our life of the United States of America, at that time, no matter what the outcome was,” the mayor said.
What the loss means for a mayor who has been in office 20 years raises the question about what it might mean for his career, or even his legacy.
“No, no, no it’s not about Rich Daley. It’s never about Rich Daley. You try to make it everything about Rich Daley. This is about America.”
The mayor’s friend, Chicago business leader Patrick Ryan, CEO for the bid, also tried to suck it up in the wake of the loss.
“To use a sports metaphor, ‘we had a great team, we had a great plan but it wasn’t our day to win today,’ ” Ryan said. “We fought a good fight, we had a good plan. That’s the way it goes.”