Chicago Olympic bid nowhere 'near first'
2016 GAMES | USOC chief says city must play up ethnic diversity and work on 'handful of issues'
We've still got a long way to go to No. 1.
Heck, we don't even know if we're the "Second City."
(AP)
While Peter Ueberroth refused to say where he thinks Chicago currently ranks in the race for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, the U.S. Olympic Committee chairman bluntly said the city is "certainly not" the front-runner to host the international spectacle.
"I think they're [Chicago 2016 team] improving but still not anywhere near first," he said Tuesday.
When he was in town last fall, Ueberroth said Chicago -- the United States' applicant city -- stood "third or fourth place" behind Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo, and needed to recruit more help from the private sector.
Ueberroth said Tuesday Chicago residents should be "proud" of the ongoing efforts to bring the Olympics here, but added that the city still has to work on a "handful" of issues, which he would not disclose.
Chicago's greatest strength is its ethnic diversity, and the city must keep pressing that asset to the International Olympic Committee to stay in the game, he said. "Chicago is a rookie in this [Olympic] arena," Ueberroth said.
Ueberroth's candid assessment didn't damper the mood of Mayor Daley or the other Chicago 2016 representatives who flocked to the Palmer House Hilton to showcase splashy promotional videos of Chicago's Olympic hopefuls practicing in scenic settings throughout the city.
"It made me feel good. It made us feel good because we don't want to be the favorite. Favorites haven't done much," Chicago 2016 Chairman Pat Ryan said, referring to USOC's CEO Jim Scherr's comments on how early front-runners bidding for the Olympics do not necessarily bode well in the final decision.
"I really believe that it's early, early, early. . . . We're just going to keep working hard."
"Once you're on the short list, that is the key," Daley said. "This is a tough competition, so like anything else, you don't take anything for granted."
In addition to Rio, Madrid and Tokyo, Chicago is also competing with Doha, Qatar; Prague, and Baku, Azerbaijan. The host city for the 2016 Games will be announced in 2009.
Ueberroth, Scherr and USOC's chief of sport performance Steve Roush also touched upon the upcoming Summer Games in Beijing, predicting a strong Chinese team and an American team free of illegal performance-enhancing substances.
"This will be a clean team," Ueberroth said.