Feb 23, 2007 12:16 am US/Central
Olympic Chiefs Spar Over Weather As Race Tightens
Pat Ryan Says Chicago's Compact Olympic Plan Is Superior
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
As the city gears up for next month's visit by the U.S. Olympic Committee, Chicago Olympic Chief Pat Ryan says he's had it with Los Angeles officials' potshots at Chicago's weather.
Ryan told a Union League Club breakfast on Thursday morning that Chicago's compact Olympic plan will be more convenient for the athletes than Los Angeles' more spread out plan, as well as easier for authorities to provide security.
He said a recent comment from Los Angeles about Chicago's wind and weather makes it seem as if the cities are competing for the winter Olympics rather than the summer games.
Until Thursday, Ryan shied away from comparing the Chicago and Los Angeles bids, and absolutely refused to criticize LA. Thursday morning, though, he said he's tired of what he is hearing they are saying out there, including knocking Chicago's weather.
"L.A. doesn't have a whole lot to talk about other than our weather. They're talking about wind," Ryan said.
CBS 2 spoke with L.A.'s organizing committee chief Thursday night and he wasn't backing down.
"One thing we have here in Los Angeles, and I'm not commenting on any other city, is fabulous weather and I see no reason not to tell the world about it," said Barry Sanders.
"I'm proud of our weather. I'm proud of our city and of course we will tell the world about our climate and if any other city feels that that somehow is a slight to them then those questions should be directed to them," Sanders said.
Ryan, as usual, stressed the compact setting here. With a village on the lakefront, the stadium minutes away in Washington Park, venues on Northerly Island and just offshore.
He added Long Beach, where they propose L.A.'s rowing and sailing events, is a long way from Los Angeles.
"The L.A. Long Beach paper said they ought to call it the Los Angles Long Beach Games," he said.
Los Angeles' majestic Coliseum is up for a facelift if the city's bid for the 2016 Olympic Games is successful. New drawings released Thursday show it covered with a vinyl sunshade with luxury boxes hung from a temporary surrounding structure. It would be a $100 million makeover.
Compare that to the Chicago stadium they'll build from scratch at a cost of $360 million.
Ryan addressed the argument that Los Angeles is Olympic ready, right now.
"We have 65 percent of our venues already built. They have all of theirs, but the USOC wants you to improve your community. They want an urban legacy," he said.
Chicago's legacy, he says, will be the new south lakefront community built as an Olympic village – a huge plus for authorities concerned about the threat of terrorism.
"Any security person would say if you have one secure perimeter to worry about for the village it would be easier to secure and I would agree with that if you have clusters of dormitories its not as easy," Ryan said.
Responding to those comment's, L.A.'s organizing committee said all the athletes would be housed at UCLA.
We know, however, other dorms will be used for other members of the Olympic family.
As for Ryan's barbs about the weather, chairman Barry Sanders told me he had no reaction to them, but then went on to say we are not going to apologize for our weather to anyone.
Members of the U.S. Olympic Committee says they will announce their choice of candidates on April 14.
"We plan on winning on April 14, and then we have 2 1/2 years getting out to sell Chicago to the rest of the world," Ryan said.
Ryan says he hopes the weather is clear when the Olympic Committee visits on March 5, even if it is cold, so that the officials can see the city's beautiful skyline.
After evaluating other cities in the world, the International Olympic Committee will make a final decision on a host city for the 2016 Summer Games in the fall of 2009.
The final Olympic Committee visits to the two cities start next week, and a final decision is due a month later.
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