Daley to size up Rio for 2016

Venturing into what some consider enemy territory, members of Chicago's Olympic bid team head this week to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a prime competitor for the 2016 Summer Games.

Mayor Daley and Chicago 2016 committee chairman Pat Ryan will attend the Pan American Games, an Olympics-like event that will attract about 5,500 athletes from 42 countries.

Not only will the Pan Am contest let the Chicago contingent eyeball a large international sporting event, but it also will put them in contact with members of the International Olympic Committee -- a group that will determine in 2009 if Daley's dream of hosting the Games comes true.

"It's a very important opportunity," Ryan said.

For Rio -- beset by crime and poverty -- the stakes are high. A successful Pan Am Games, starting July 13 and running for 16 days, could show the city is Olympics-ready.

"Whether Rio will be a strong candidate for 2016 -- at least a part of the story will be told in the month of July," American IOC member Anita DeFrantz recently told USA Today. A trouble-free Pan Am Games "will be a major step forward" for the South American city's Olympic chances, said German IOC member Thomas Bach.

This year, in unrest that attracted international attention, Rio police battled armed drug gangs in shanty-towns called favelas.

Since May, at least 45 people have died and 80 have been injured in the crackdowns. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has warned if violence spills over into the Pan Am Games, "Brazil's image will go down the drain."

Ed Hula, editor of Around the Rings, a Web site that covers the business of the Olympics, says turmoil will spoil the Rio bid "only if violence touches the venues or spectators."

Local officials privately have said they consider Rio Chicago's toughest competition among a group that includes Tokyo and Madrid, Spain. IOC President Jacques Rogge has pushed for a South American Summer Games, noting the region has never staged an Olympics.

Daley and Ryan are scheduled to arrive in Rio on Wednesday and to return Sunday.

About a half dozen other Chicago Olympics officials also will attend, said Chicago 2016 spokesman Patrick Sandusky. Chicago will have to navigate myriad rules about meeting IOC members. The city will host no parties or meals, for example, Sandusky said.

Daley insists he will not use Rio's problems to advance Chicago's bid.

"One thing I found out [is] if you are negative about another city, then you are not positive about yourself. You don't have to go and trash people to get the message over. Every city has its problems," Daley said.

Contributing: Dave Newbart, Sun-Times wires