"COPENHAGEN — The Olympics were awarded to a South American city for the first time when the International Olympic Committee on Friday voted for Rio de Janeiro to host the 2016 Games. Rio de Janeiro beat Madrid in the final round of voting, 66-32.
The committee delivered an unexpectedly early knockout blow to Chicago, which was eliminated in the first round. Tokyo was gone in the second. Jacques Rogge, the president of the committee, made the announcement, sending crowds in Rio de Janeiro into celebration. The announcement was shown live on Rio’s Copacabana beach, where tens of thousands of people had begun the party early in front of a main stage flanked by screens.
As the envelope was opened in Copenhagen and the city’s name rang out, a loud scream rose from the crowd. Confetti exploded from the stage, as the people, dressed in shorts and bikinis, jumped to samba music and waved Brazilian flags and balloons of green and yellow, the national colors. The crowd spread to the water’s edge, and more people continued to arrive for a celebration that promised to last well into the night.
The scene was different earlier in Chicago as throngs in Daley Plaza gasped in disappointment when Rogge announced that Chicago was out. It was a surprising verdict, especially after President Obama’s whirlwind trip to boost the bid of his adopted city. Mr. Obama was the first American president to make an in-person appeal for a bid city, and the first lady, Michelle Obama, had also come this week to lobby I.O.C. members for votes. The Obamas were flying back to Washington at the time of the vote. A spokesman said Mr. Obama still believed it had been worth the effort. Chicago’s bid leaders had worked for nearly four years and spent close to $50 million to try to bring the Summer Olympics to the United States for the first time in 20 years.
Chicago had been considered among Olympic insiders as a favorite to win the Games, along with Rio. Instead, the I.O.C. crushed an American city’s hopes for the second straight time.
New York’s bid was eliminated in the second round of voting for the 2012 Olympics. Chicago’s leaders said they had been worried about the first round, when I.O.C. politics often come into play the most, with some members simply wanting to keep some cities in the running even if they do not want them to win. Still, they said, they were surprised at the result. Chicago got 18 of 94 votes cast in the first round, after Madrid’s 28, Rio’s 26 and Tokyo’s 22. Rio jumped to 46 votes in the second round, to Madrid’s 29 and Tokyo’s 20.I'm sure this is racism, no doubt. In fact I can hear the calls for Eric Holder to open up an investigation and Nancy Pelosi getting all weepy about what racism was like when she was little, 1865 or so, then calling for congressional investigations and more calls for reparations.
CNN by the way is SHOCKED!
Heh. So much for the race between RIO and Chicago being "close as hell".
October 02, 2009
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Barack Obama
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