Ueberroth: Chicago 'third or fourth' among 2016 Olympic favorites

Associated Press
CHICAGO -- Chicago isn't the front-runner for the 2016 Olympics many are making it out to be. It's not even a close second.

With two years before the vote for the 2016 host, Chicago is third or fourth on the list of favorites, U.S. Olympic Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth said Thursday. Ahead of Chicago are Madrid, Spain; Tokyo; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

"It's not a criticism, it's a reality," Ueberroth said after meeting with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. "There's no criticism of Chicago 2016. I'm not saying they're doing anything wrong. I'm telling you they're in third or fourth place."

Baku, Azerbaijan; Doha, Qatar; and Prague, Czech Republic also are bidding for the Summer Olympics. The International Olympic Committee will choose the host city Oct. 2, 2009, at its session in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Chicago was thought to be the early favorite in the 2016 race, because the United States hasn't hosted a Summer Olympics since Atlanta in 1996. Although there's no official policy of rotating the games, Asia (Beijing) and Europe (London) will have just hosted Summer Olympics.

Chicago also has a solid bid, with venues located in a compact area downtown, many on picturesque Lake Michigan.

But all the cities will present strong bids, Ueberroth said. Chicago needs to sell itself to the 100-plus IOC members, and it needs to be doing it now.

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