Obama win boosts Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid

Via Yahoo! Sports

Barack Obama’s election as president could prove crucial in another campaign—the race for the 2016 Olympics.

Obama’s victory provides a boost to the bid from Chicago—his hometown—to bring the Summer Games back to the United States for the first time since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

“It’s very important,” Chicago bid leader Patrick Ryan told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “He’s a man who the world is looking to for leadership and I think he’s very popular not only in the U.S. but around the world.

“We share his feeling that the Olympics are an opportunity for the U.S. to reach out to the rest of the world, for building bridges of friendship. It’s certainly something he’s very committed to.”

Chicago is competing against Tokyo; Madrid, Spain; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The host will be chosen by the International Olympic Committee in Denmark on Oct. 2, 2009.

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