Apr 10, 2007 6:42 pm US/Central
Chicago Team Optimistic About Olympic Bid Chances
Final Arguments And Decision Will Be Made In 4 Days
by Jay Levine
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
The man behind Chicago's Olympic bid shared his thoughts just four days ahead of decision day.
As CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports, Chicago 2016 CEO Pat Ryan likes the city's chances.
And why not, when you're looking at what will be the backdrop for a worldwide TV audience.
No doubt Chicago will be pushing that on Saturday, but the city's Olympic team will also be pushing something more than skin-deep: Chicago's style, spirit and soul.
With actual construction still two votes and many years away, maps, sketches and computer animations help us imagine what a Chicago 2016 Summer Games would be like. But it's more than that, Chicago will tell Olympic officials. It's also the way we live, and celebrate.
"I believe this will be a real peoples' Olympics," Ryan said.
The case Ryan tells CBS 2 he will make to U.S. Olympic Committee officials Saturday will include Chicago's history of turning out for major events.
"A million people come out for Taste of Chicago," Ryan said. "Where else would they do that?"
"Not in Los Angeles" is left unsaid.
Ryan predicts tens of thousands watching jumbotrons at Olympic venues, caught up in the Olympic spirit.
Monday night, the mayor talked with CBS 2 about Chicago's spirit and its soul. Tuesday he talked about the kind of image he feels an American candidate should possess.
"I think it's an opportunity to come back to America and to really showcase an American city, what America is all about," Mayor Richard M. Daley said.
Another video will be unveiled on Saturday. But there are also issues of nuts and bolts and dollars and cents. With Los Angeles nearly Olympic-ready already, Chicago must prove to the USOC it can deliver on its promises.
"We have to convince them of the certainty of delivery and the believability of the quality and the believability of the cost," Ryan said.
That would level the playing field between Chicago and L.A.
The USOC has asked both cities to refrain from taking shots at each other, but when the mayor talks about cities with soul, and those without, cities where people turn out and those where they don't, and cities which really showcase what America is all about, you don't need to name names to make your case.
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