Jan 18, 2007 11:17 pm US/Central
Chicago Olympians Vow To Help City's 2016 Bid
Bid Books Due Monday In Race For U.S. Olympic Committee Nomination
by Jay Levine
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
The deadline for Chicago's final plan for the 2016 summer games is now just four days away.
CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports Chicago's plan got a boost Thursday night from a group that knows a lot about what it takes to host the Olympics.
A group of Chicago Olympians gathered at the Drake Hotel to sign copies of the official bid book, which details what Chicago plans to do, how the city plans to do it, and how it will pay for it.
The books, due in Colorado Springs Monday, are literally hot off the presses. They contain a blueprint for a bid organizers feel will win over U.S. Olympic Committee voters.
"We need to demonstrate to them that we can get 60 votes from the International Olympic Committee and if we do that we will get five votes from the USOC board and we will win that bid and the way you do that is demonstrate to the board that Chicago will host a fantastic games and I think we've done that," said William Scherr, chairman of World Sport Chicago.
The contents of the bid book, aside from the title page featuring a greeting from Mayor Daley and his Olympic chief Pat Ryan, remains top-secret, until next week.
But plans to use Chicago's army of Olympians to spread the word about the city are already taking shape.
"We will target specific athletes that are aligned with specific sports and specific parts of the world where they will no doubt be ambassadors for their sport and the city of Chicago," said Bob Berland of Athletes Advisory Council.
Until now, Chicago's campaign for the games has had a much higher profile than Los Angeles's. But Friday, California brings out the big guns. With Gov. Schwarzenegger headlining an event at the colosseum, lighting the Olympic cauldron, reminding everyone of everything L.A. already has in place.
Chicago might respond: Been there, done that.
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