Oct 3, 2009 8:30 pm US/Central
Empty-Handed Daley Promises Bright City Future
Mayor Says Chicago Will Emerge From Recession
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Mayor Daley and Gov. Pat Quinn, left, arrive at O'Hare International Airport Saturday (Oct. 3, 2009) after traveling to Denmark for Chicago's ill-fated 2016 Olympic bid.
CBS
It wasn't the kind of homecoming Chicago's Olympic delegation had expected.
The team returned home Saturday empty-handed with Mayor Richard Daley suggesting a bid for the 2020 Olympics was unlikely but promising Chicago would come out of the recession even without the economic stimulus of the 2016 Summer Games.
"We have a great city. These are great people. We have a future just as bright as anyone else," Daley told reporters at O'Hare International Airport.
Applause greeted Mayor Daley as he entered the international arrival terminal at O'Hare airport, and he was upbeat.
"If you don't take that chance, you'll never be anything in life and everybody knows that. The Olympians know that," he said.
The delegation, including Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, had just returned from Copenhagen where the International Olympic Committee awarded Rio de Janeiro the games. They tried to put the best face on the loss.
"All those cities said they were the best city, Chicago is the best of the best cities," Quinn said.
Chicago's loss was a high-profile international rejection that came despite personal appeals from President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, who flew to Copenhagen to lobby for the city. Chicago was eliminated Friday in the first round of voting.
Daley said it was "unfair" to suggest losing the Olympics was a defeat for Obama, who calls Chicago home and has a house just a few blocks from where the Olympic Stadium would have been built.
"This is not a loss for Obama. I don't know where you're getting this point," Daley said. "It's not a loss for the king and queen of Spain, it's not a loss for the new prime minister of Japan."
Tokyo and Madrid were the other two unsuccessful bid cities, and their country's leaders were at the IOC meeting, too.
Among the Chicago supporters who traveled to Denmark was recent Basketball Hall of Fame inductee David Robinson.
"On a world stage, Chicago took a step forward, there's no question and I was proud to be an American but also, proud to be part of this delegation," he said.
Daley thanked Chicago's business community and other benefactors for raising money to finance the city's Olympic bid, saying the other countries had spent government money.
"We did not spend one dime" of taxpayers' money, said Daley, who also thanked volunteers who worked on the bid.
Meantime, Mayor Daley said this was a tremendous marketing opportunity for the city. He met with the heads of several environment and energy businesses in Denmark. He plans to work closely with them, with the hope of bringing their corporate headquarters to Chicago.
Daley suggested a 2020 bid for the Olympics was unlikely because of geographical concerns by the IOC.
"This is the only time that we fit in that geographical position," he said.
Daley acknowledged being upset and disappointed but said he's keeping perspective on the Olympic loss.
"The only great disappointment in life is if you lost a loved one," he said.
CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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