Obama video part of Chicago Olympic presentation
Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro will make presentations on Friday to the general assembly of the European Olympic Committees, which represents 50 countries and holds the balance of power in the Olympic world.
Most importantly, the audience of 500 delegates is expected to include between 20 and 25 voting members of the International Olympic Committee, EOC president Patrick Hickey said.
It's also the first 2016 Summer Olympic bid presentation since the election of former Illinois senator Barack Obama to the presidency of the U.S., a potential major boost to the bid from his hometown of Chicago.
A video message from Obama, taped since his election victory, is expected to be included in Chicago's 20-minute delivery.
"There's heightened interest and excitement in the presentations," Hickey said. "People are wondering if the Chicago presentation will include something from president-elect Obama. It's an added dimension."
The full IOC will select the host city in a secret ballot in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Oct. 2. But the campaign is already in full swing as the cities prepare to submit their final bid documents to the IOC in February.
The cities made recent presentations to regional Olympic groups in Acapulco, Mexico and Bali, Indonesia, but the European meeting offers by far the biggest chance yet for the candidates to get their message out to key constituents.
IOC president Jacques Rogge, a Belgian and former head of the European body, will be among those attending. More than a third of the IOC's 100-plus members are from Europe.
Obama election 'a bright spotlight on Chicago'
Obama has been a high-profile backer of the Chicago bid and lives a few blocks from the planned 2016 Olympic stadium. He delivered his acceptance speech before huge crowds in Grant Park, which is at the heart of the proposed Olympic venues.
"President-elect Obama's election has put a bright spotlight on Chicago," bid leader Patrick Ryan said Thursday. "The fact that he is managing the transition from Chicago continues to put a spotlight on Chicago, and we look forward to his continued support."
The Chicago 2016 committee is counting on Obama to attend next year's IOC meeting in Copenhagen to personally push for the bid.
Chicago's rivals are adjusting to the Obama factor. Rio is even using his "Yes, we can" and time-for-change slogan as an example of why the Olympics should go to Brazil and South America for the first time.
"We also have a need for change in the Olympic movement," Rio bid president and Brazilian Olympic committee chief Carlos Nuzman said. "The Olympic movement needs to go to all regions of the world. South America is home to 400 million people, and one-third are young people. The Olympic movement is ready for a historic change."
Economic downturn cited
Rio, which hosted the 2007 Pan American Games, says Brazil will have the world's fifth largest economy by 2016.
Madrid, which finished third behind winner London and Paris in the vote for the 2012 Olympics, portrayed the Spanish capital Thursday as the "safest choice for 2016" in light of the economic downturn. Bid officials said 77 per cent of the venues are ready, the candidacy is 90 per cent toward it funding goal, the project is entirely underwritten by the government.
Tokyo, which hosted the 1964 Olympics and has been rated highly in IOC technical evaluations, said the Japanese government's $100-billion US loan to the International Monetary Fund showed how the Games would be financially secure.