ATHENS — Getting to the final phase was one thing. Now, Chicago has some hard work ahead to overcome weaknesses in its bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Chicago was one of four cities selected as bid finalists Thursday, along with Tokyo; Madrid, Spain and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The lineup sets up a high-profile contest featuring major cities from the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Failing to make the International Olympic Committee’s short list were three cities — Doha, Qatar; Prague, Czech Republic and Baku, Azerbaijan. The IOC said Doha had the potential to host the Olympics and even rated the Qatari capital tied for third with Chicago in its technical assessment. But the IOC said it rejected Doha because it proposed holding the games in October.
The finalists advance to a 16-month race that will culminate Oct. 2, 2009, with a secret ballot by the full IOC at its session in Copenhagen, Denmark.
“It’s a very competitive field,” Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said. “The competition begins now.”
Footnotes.
The IOC provisionally suspended Iraq’s national Olympic committee for “political interference” by the government, a decision that leaves Iraqi athletes in danger of missing the Beijing Games.
• Several new high-tech swimsuits by Arena, Adidas and Mizuno were approved to compete with Speedo’s record-breaking LZR Racer at the Olympics.
The Associated Press
