IOC votes for 2016 Olympic host

[October 02, 2009]  COPENHAGEN (AP) -- The International Olympic Committee was choosing the host of the 2016 Olympics on Friday, after hearing a deeply personal and rousing appeal from President Barack Obama to select his adoptive hometown Chicago over Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid.

"Chicago is a city where the practical and the inspirational exist in harmony," Obama told the IOC. "I urge you to chose Chicago."

After years of hard work, lobbying, planning and hopes for the four cities, they were finally crossing the finishing line. Each city got a last chance to sway and wow undecided members with a 45-minute presentation followed by questions.

Chicago went first, with videos and speeches -- capped by Obama's plea.

With the IOC's members sitting silently before him, Obama explained how his family moved around a lot when he was a kid and "I never really had roots."

But in Chicago, he said, "I finally found a home."

Tokyo stressed environmental concerns, opening with a young gymnast and video highlighting the threat of climate change.

"Tokyo will show the world how a major metropolis can flourish without detriment to the environment," Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said.

An uncomfortable moment for Chicago came when an IOC member from Pakistan, Syed Shahid Ali, noted that going through U.S. customs can be harrowing for foreigners.

Obama responded that he wanted a Chicago Games to offer "a reminder that America at its best is open to the world."

The 103 members who attended the IOC meeting start voting electronically in a secret ballot at 5:10 p.m. (1510 GMT). The vote will take up to 30 minutes. Cities will be eliminated one-by-one until one secures a majority.

The high drama will come when IOC president Jacques Rogge announces the name of the winner about an hour later, breaking open a sealed envelope and declaring which city has been awarded the games of the 31st Olympiad.

The winner gets huge prestige and billions of dollars in potential economic benefits, the losers just painful thoughts of what might have been.

Rogge doesn't vote and, as long as their cities haven't been eliminated, neither will members from Brazil, the United States, Spain and Japan. Three other members did not attend the session.

That left 95 voters in the first round, with more in subsequent rounds. In the event of a two-city tie in the early rounds, a runoff is held between the cities. If there is a tie in the final round, Rogge can vote or ask the IOC executive board to break the deadlock.

Ahead of the vote, only Tokyo seemed to have fallen out of the running. But otherwise, it was still too close to call between the beaches and bossa nova of Rio, the bustle and Lake Michigan waterfront of Chicago or the European elegance of Madrid. Everyone had reason to be hopeful, none reason to be sure.

They all delivered a hard sell.

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama tugged at IOC members' heart strings by talking during Chicago's presentation about her late father, who had multiple sclerosis. She recounted sitting on his lap, watching Olympians such as Carl Lewis and Nadia Comaneci compete, and how her father "taught me how to throw a ball and a mean right hook."

"My dad would have been so proud to witness these games in Chicago," she said.

During voting, as cities go out, loyalties will shift. That is where the contest will be won or lost. If Tokyo goes out first, will its supporters swing behind Rio, Madrid or Chicago and by how much for each? And could Madrid stun front-runners Chicago and Rio in the second round, knocking one of them out, with its seemingly solid core of backers?

The variables are such that any city could conceivably win or lose. A few votes either way could decide it. That is especially true this time, with all four cities seen as generally capable of holding the games. Some IOC veterans say there has been no closer contest in recent memory.

To prevent bribery, IOC members aren't allowed to visit the bidding cities -- so they'll be deciding instead based on what they've been told and, for some, their gut instincts, their emotions and personal interests.

Which is where Obama came in, literally. He jetted in Friday morning, for just five hours, to try to tip the outcome Chicago's way.

But Chicago is up against equally charismatic opposition in the shape of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The bearded former union leader makes a compelling case for Rio. Foremost of those is that South America has never before held an Olympics and that the games shouldn't be the exclusive preserve of rich developed countries. That is an argument the other cities can't use because their countries have all held the Olympics before.

Rio appeals to IOC members who believe it's their duty to share the Olympic ideals and pursuit of sporting excellence with all corners of the globe. South America is also an untapped market for Olympic sponsors. The romantic appeal of Rio's beaches and mountains is strong.

[Associated Press; By JOHN LEICESTER]

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