Passionate Rio upstages Obama’s Chicago, others before IOC

COPENHAGEN - Chicago lobbyist US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama were upstaged by a passionate Rio de Janeiro bid urging the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to bring the Olympics to South America for the first time in 2016.

“Rio is ready, give us this chance and you will not regret it,” said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as Rio again presented a world map showing South America (and Africa) as a blank Olympic spot.

“I honestly believe it’s Rio’s time … It would send a powerful message that the Olympics belong to all continents, all humanity.”

Rio made a powerful and emotional 45-minute presentation after a Chicago pitch mainly lit up by the Obamas and a lively Tokyo show spearheaded by a school girl. A slick Madrid pitch emphasising the “human touch” of Games wrapped up the presentations.

In a battle of heavyweights, Obama, Lula, Japan’s new PM Yukio Hatoyama, King Juan Carlos and PM Jose Luis Rodrguez Zapatero for Madrid, tried to persuade the IOC to vote for their city.

The IOC members were due to hear a final report from the evaluation committee, followed by the secret ballot and the host city announcement by IOC boss Jacques Rogge set for 1630 GMT.

Of the 103 IOC members in Copenhagen’s Bella Center, 95 were due to cast their ballot in the first round of the ballot. The seven IOC members from the four countries are not allowed to vote then and Rogge does not take sides.

Less than two hours after arriving in Denmark for his five-hour stint, Obama told the IOC session that “Chicago and America will make the world proud.”

“I came here as a passionate supporter of the Olympics and Paralympics … and as a proud Chicagoan … America is ready and eager to assume that sacred trust.”

Chicago is the adopted home town of the president, while his wife Michelle Obama was born and raised in the city.

Chicago pledged perfect conditions for athletes and fans, and lasting legacy in a 45-minute presentation which had no real spark apart from the Obamas.

“Together, we can,” was the slogan in one video excerpt, drawing on Obama’s famous words “Yes, we can.”

Michelle Obama talked passionately about her youth in the city, her late father and his love for sports, and what Olympics could do to the city.

Obama, the first US president to present an Olympic bid before the IOC, promised that foreigners are welcome, saying the Olympics can be “a reminder that America at its best is open to the world.”

Next on after the world’s most powerful politician was a 15-year- old schoolgirl and gymnast from Japan, Resa Mishina.

“I am not a head of state,” she said. “I represent a much bigger group, the youth of the world.”

Mishina expressed today’s concerns of the young generation, ranging from poverty to the environment, the latter an important cornerstone also mentioned prominently by Hatoyama.

Tokyo tried to shrug off its image of showing not enough emotion as it aims to get the Games for the second time, following 1964. The Japanese stressed compact Games and the latest technology in a presentation which came across livelier than Chicago’s.

Rio then pleaded more than sun and samba, a major legacy for the next generation in a country catching up rapidly with the top economic powers in the world.

“Brazil is ready, Rio is ready to host Games of certainty, celebration and transformation,” said bid chief Carlos Arthur Nuzman.

Mayor Eduardo Paes said that hosting the 2014 World Cup was no disadvantage, but that it is rather “our aim to use the World Cup as a springboard to greatest possible Games in 2016.”

Responding to further IOC scepticism whether Rio could really deliver, Lula said that “Brazil has learnt to abide by its commitments.”

“We need to prove every day to the world that Brazil has decided to transform itself into a developed nation.”

The longest-standing IOC member, former world football boss Joao Havelange, meanwhile, invited the IOC to Rio 2016 as he will turn 100 in that year.

Madrid was hoping for third time lucky after two previous failed bids.

Prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero named the bid “reliable” with 77 per cent of the infrastructure in place, while king Juan Carlos concluded the pitch with a daunting promise.

“We firmly believe that we can make the world a better place to live after Madrid 2016,” said King Juan Carlos.