Olympics 2016

COPENHAGEN (CBS) ― It's Olympic decision day in Denmark -- just hours before we'll know if Chicago gets to host the 2016 Summer Games.

Going for the gold Thursday, first lady Michelle Obama dressed in a golden gown for opening ceremonies on the eve of the big vote by the International Olympic Committee. And in the grand opera hall, she sat shoulder-to-shoulder with the first lady of talk, Oprah Winfrey, supporting Chicago's bid.

Meanwhile, hours earlier, with a wave of his hand, President Obama boarded Air Force One. He also was going to Copenhagen to try to seal the deal.

CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports from the Bella Convention Center, where Olympic delegates were slated to gather Friday to cast their first of as many as three votes.

In a race like this one, which most believe is too close to call, little things can make a big difference. Just hours before Chicago's final presentation, CBS 2 spoke with those who'll make the case and those here to back them.

Chicago's boosters have been pulling out all the stops. If they thought standing on their heads would be worth a few votes, they'd probably do it. Actually, they did.

He may be 20 years older and two feet taller, but basketball Hall of Famer David Robinson held his own in the hand-stand-off with gold medal winner Nastia Liukin. Bart Conner's even older, but the gold medal gymnast couldn't help himself at the podium at Thursday's press conference.

"When's the last time you saw a 51-year-old guy do that?" Conner said.

Chicago's gold-medal winners gathered to make their case for the bid Thursday, including reigning Olympic decathlon gold medalist Brian Clay.

"We're going out and trying to change kids lives," Clay said.

Robinson, who has won two Olympic gold medals, an Olympic bronze medal and the gold medal at the 1986 World Championships in basketball, said, "To be able to host something so pure and so sweet would be a tremendous honor for us."

Mike Conley Sr. won a gold and silver in the Olympic triple jump. "We've already affected 30,000 kids in Chicago," he said.

They were joined by hundreds of other Chicagoans who stood out among others taking part in bike ride from the Bella Center -- where the IOC will vote Friday -– to City Hall Square.

Not every Chicagoan in Copenhagen was backing the bid. Four members of No Games Chicago set up shop downtown and succeeded in delivering their case against the games to an IOC official.

Organizer Tom Tresser said, "We're here to give the IOC information they need, we feel, to make a good and wise decision; not just for us, but for them as well."

However, they were far outnumbered and outgunned by the likes of First Michelle Obama; Oprah Winfrey, who was face to face with welcoming voters from the time she arrived; and Robinson, who was introduced to a South African delegate, who'd told CBS 2 News that he was still undecided.

Sam Ramsamy said, "I wouldn't say undecided, because as I said, I will wait for the final presentation."

Sometimes though, actions speak louder than words. Delegates taken by boat to opening ceremonies were greeted by hundreds of cheering Chicagoans wearing their now-familiar blue and orange.

You could see the IOC delegates at the windows of the boat. A highly placed source quoted one member on board as saying "we heard them before we saw them. It was impressive."

Bill Daley, Mayor Daley's brother and Midwest Chairman of JP Morgan Chase said, "There's just a great spirit about Chicago that Chicagoans have. They're proud of their city and want the world to know it even better than we know it."

Father Jack Wall, pastor of Old St. Patrick's Church in Chicago said, "It's a wonderful time to be a Chicagoan, we're really excited about what might be for us."

The IOC members disembarked across the water, entering the Opera Hall, for the official start of a meeting which will include Friday's critical vote.

The final presentation was set to begin around 1:50 a.m. Copenhagen time. President Barack Obama wasn't due to land until a little more than an hour before it begins, though the cheers of the harborside crowd might still be ringing in voters' ears when he lands.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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