IOC officials tour proposed Chicago Olympic venues

CHICAGO (AP) - It may be the biggest Chicago road trip since the Blues Brothers hit town _ the International Olympic Committee’s tour of sites where the city wants to hold the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Members of the IOC inspection team were driven on Sunday to existing facilities, like Soldier Field, and to the sites of those still on the drawing board, like the Olympic Stadium.

It is arguably the most important day of their nearly weeklong visit, which ends Tuesday, for the simple reason that it gives organizers the chance to drive home a key point of their bid _ that Chicago’s Olympics would be a compact affair.

“Today is the day we can really show that,” United States Olympic Committee spokesman Darryl Seibel said. “The significance of today is that it’s an opportunity not only to present plans, but to show those plans _ bring them to life.”

The tour ended with a video greeting from Michael Jordan, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, at the city’s United Center, where Jordan played for the Chicago Bulls.

“The memory of standing as a representative of the United States in the Olympics was one of the proudest moments of my life,” Jordan told IOC members as children played basketball nearby.

Chicago is the first stop for the inspection team, which will also visit Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, and Tokyo before voting in October on which city is awarded the games.

On a cold, windy day that started with rain and ended with snow _ and seemed more conducive to pitching the Winter Games _ the IOC saw just how close most events are to each other, the proposed Olympic Village and cultural spots like the Field Museum and Millennium Park.

The bus took the IOC team down Lake Shore Drive, with organizers reminding them that events such as rowing would be held just to their east on Lake Michigan. To the west was Grant Park, the site of archery as well as Buckingham Fountain _ the proposed starting point for the marathon.

A couple minutes later the bus passed McCormick Place, a massive 2.5 million square foot convention center where 11 Olympic and eight paralympic events would be held. It would also house a training facility, broadcast center and press center.

Their first stop was just to the south, where organizers are proposing to build the Olympic Village for 16,000 athletes on property that now holds a nearly shuttered hospital.

There, organizers said, they were greeted by Mayor Richard Daley and Greg Louganis, one of the greatest divers in Olympic history.

Next, they looped back to McCormick Place, passing a rhythmic gymnastics demonstration in the concourse on their way to exhibitions of other sports.

“I hope they were impressed,” said 12-year-old Jazzy Kerber, of suburban Chicago, one of the gymnasts. “I hope they saw Chicago is a really good city. …”

Later, as the sun peeked briefly through threatening clouds, the delegation visited Washington Park on the South Side, where the main Olympic Stadium would be built. To show the outline of the proposed stadium, 205 volunteers held up flags for each of the Olympic nations around its perimeter.

Story Continues →