Three-member delegations from the five cities hoping to represent the United States in a bid for the 2016 Winter Olympic Games made 15-minute presentations Friday to the USOC board in La Jolla California, and then answered questions for another 15 minutes.
Bob Ctvrlik, the USOC’s Vice President, International, and a member of the International Olympic Committee, said “(the cities) gave us simple, frank presentations. We will perform an analysis and get back to the board to decide whether to reduce the number of cities, or bid, but at this point we’re satisfied with the programs thus far and we’re just digging into the details”.
Ctvrtlik said four experts on Olympic venues, finance, telecommunications and marketing will study each proposal over the next two weeks and the USOC will decide whether to cut candidates or continue with five cities as it works to determine before the end of the year whether it will enter a candidate city for 2016.
He said, “there was nobody that eliminated themselves today. We’ll get back with (the cities). We could reduce the field as soon as three weeks or so, and we may not reduce it at all”.
He added, “there’s a lot of quality in all five cities. We have about two feet of information (to consider) and don’t want to get swayed by charisma”.
USOC chairman Peter Ueberroth said, “if we find someone we can win with, we’ll go”.
The USOC is also polling members of the IOC to see if a U.S. city – and which one – would make a winning host for the 2016 Games.
In previous years U.S. cities would spend millions of dollars competing for the bid before the USOC selected a U.S. candidate city.
Their mayors represented four of the five cities – Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Philadelphia was represented by Stephanie Naidoff, commerce director for the City of Brotherly Love, who said she had “every confidence that Philadelphia can deliver on the Olympic dream that not only will make the U.S. Olympic Committee proud, but will make all of America proud”.
Los Angeles is the only city to stage the Summer Games twice and its Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa reportedly refused to speculate whether that was advantageous or disadvantageous for his city’s attempt at a third bid. And USOC officials wouldn’t say if it might be preferable for the bid to go to a city that hasn’t yet hosted the Games.
Villaraigosa was the only head of a bid delegation that didn’t hesitate when asked to reveal or discuss specifics such as major venues, transportation plans, finances, etc.
Barry Sanders, chairman of the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games said virtually every competition site and possible Olympic Village already are in place, nearly all of them (such as the Staples Center and The Home Depot Center) built since the l984 Olympics.
A 2016 Los Angeles Summer Games would be more compact and easier to get to than in 1984, said Villaraigosa.
When asked if, as someone so closely identified with the Olympics in Los Angeles he had detached himself in any way from the bid selection process because of a perceived conflict of interest, Ueberroth said he was conflicted in all five cities having been born in Chicago, grown up in the Bay Area, lived in Southern California, started school in Philadelphia and has lots of friends in Houston.
Houston’s bid for the 2012 Games included a proposal to stage track and field events indoors at the Astrodome, but University of Houston officials have said the current plan includes an option to expand the UH track stadium for that purpose in 2016. The Houston group touted the city’s leadership and financial resources including several Fortune 500 companies.
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley described Chicago’s bid as “an opportunity to showcase Middle America”. He said the Olympic Village would be near downtown Chicago but denied to give details on plans for the main Olympic stadium.
Ctvrtlik praised the city. He said “Chicago definitely brought quality to the bid process. They’ve got innovation, they are doing a lot of things right, but you’ve got to get 60 votes (from IOC members), or you don’t get to win the bid”.
Michael Segobiano, Chicago’s director of marketing said, “we will be offering the most compact Summer Games in an unparalleled urban setting on the shores of our magical lakefront with out stunning skyline as the backdrop”.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom says he envisions a 2016 Summer Olympics with marathoners crossing the Gold Gate Bridge, cyclists pedaling through the sailors navigating the city’s scenic bay. Newsom said his city could succeed because of its “unique international status, because of our identity and affinity toward social justice movements, and the fact that San Francisco oftentimes does stand alone in terms of international perception and prestige”.
Newsom said the venues were too spread out in the city’s 2012 bid. He said this bid will be more San Francisco-centric, and all venues will be within 45 minutes of the Olympic Village.
