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Chicago 2016

Chicago 2016 Update: Chicago Urban League Olympic bid impact study

This is a bit late, but read some of the results from an Chicago 2016 bid impact study done by the Chicago Urban League.

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Chicago 2016

Chicago 2016 Upate: Mayor Daley tours Rio’s Pan Am Games Village (CBS 2 Chicago)

Watch the video here.

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Chicago 2016

Chicago 2016 Update: Mitt Romney – Olympics not a moneymaker (Associated Press)

Read about it here. Mitt Romney was involved with the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002.

“I hope people don’t think it’s a big moneymaker and a source of economic development and good for business, because that’s not what the Olympics is about,” Romney said. “The Olympics is about an opportunity to serve the world and to welcome the world.”

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Chicago 2016

Chicago 2016 Update: Chicago Trophy unveiled for soccer tourney

2016 Update

Talk about big-time. Well, dense, at least.

Noted architect Santiago Calatrava, designer of the soon-to-be-built Chicago Spire, unveiled his Chicago Trophy for the soccer tournament to be held at Soldier Field later this month.

The teams competing for the title and the trophy are Sevilla FC, Spain; Wisla Krakow, Poland; Club Deportivo Toluca, Mexico; and Reggina Calcio, Italy. Don’t get me wrong, but these aren’t exactly top-notch teams.

If Sevilla were exchanged for Real Madrid FC, who just won its league championship and if Toluca were exchanged for Chivas, maybe it’d be worth watching.

I wonder if he had to design the trophy as a condition of building the Spire.

Check out fellow Medillian Britney Kaplan’s piece here.

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Chicago 2016

Chicago 2016 Update: Tokyo unveils logo for its 2016 bid

tokyo 2016 logo

I’m not sure what I think about this logo, but it’s a knot that’s traditionally used to tie gifts. The colors used — red, blue, green, black and yellow — are the Olympic colors represented by the rings.

Tokyo’s the latest bid nation to create a logo. JOC President Tsunekazu Takeda and Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara both submitted letters of intent last month.

Personally, I think the original Chicago 2016 logo was a bit cooler, but we’re still waiting on the new logo. At least it’s better than the jigsaw puzzle that is the London 2012 logo.

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Chicago 2016

Chicago 2016 Update: Daley off to Rio

It’s finally time to scope out the competition.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported today that Mayor Richard M. Daley is flying to Rio to check out the 2007 Pan American Games down in Rio de Janeiro, arguably the city that poses the biggest risk to Chicago picking up the 2016 Olympic bid.

Chicago 2016 bid brass will also get to talk to members of the International Olympic Committee in hopes of furthering their cause.

On an unrelated note, I’d like to welcome Brian Edwards into the Chicago 2016 blog community.

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Chicago 2016

Chicago 2016 Update: Olympic bid’s tactical commander (Chicago Tribune)

Here’s an interesting piece from today’s Chicago Tribune profiling David Bolger,

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Chicago 2016

Chicago 2016 Update: Sochi selection may boost Chicago’s chances in 2016 (USA Today)

2016 Update

According to a USA Today piece from yesterday (hard work if completed on Independence Day, I must add!) Sochi’s selection as host city for the 2014 Winter Olympics may boost Chicago’s chances of landing the 2016 Summer Games.

Reporter Vicki Michaelis writes:

Most IOC members say they don’t subscribe to a sense of continental rotation, but they haven’t awarded three consecutive Olympics to cities on the same continent since Albertville and Barcelona hosted the Winter and Summer Olympics, respectively, in 1992, followed by a Winter Games in Lillehammer in 1994.

There haven’t been consecutive Summer Olympics on one continent since London hosted the 1948 Games, followed by Helsinki in 1952.

Madrid, Milan, Prague, Rome and St. Petersburg, Russia, are possible 2016 bidders, although it’s unlikely now that St. Petersburg will bid.

She continues to say that how Rio de Janeiro fares when it hosts the Pan-American Games later this month may impact the International Olympic Committee’s decision more than geography.

Non European cities expected to bid for the 2016 Olympics include Baku, Azerbaijan; Chicago; Doha, Qatar; Rio de Janeiro; and Tokyo.

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Chicago 2016

Chicago 2016 Update: Taxpayers won’t be footing bill for Games, at least for now

2016 Update

Yup, I said it. Well, actually, the new money manager for the Chicago 2016 bid committee, Rick Ludwig, said it, according to a Sun-Times report.

The city and state have offered to cough up $500 million if Olympic revenues fall short, but Ludwig doesn’t think they’ll be tapped into.

Why? Bad accounting, of course…or is it honest accounting?

Ludwig said that if cities lose money because of the Games, it’s a matter of accounting. He says the costs of permanent building projects shouldn’t be included.

If he believes the city absolutely needs these changes, I understand that. But to think these changes would happen regardless of the Olympics on the same timetable, well, I think he’s mistaken.