2016 Summer Olympics in Chicago. What are the chances?

Not a chance in hell. Sorry.

Better yet, when will the World Championships come to the US?

keep the world championships and olympic games in europe so I can watch them online at work. My oncall schedule would be disatrious with these championships in the Americas.

Oh God, Chicago 2016! YES!!! Chicago's a great town!

Several of my children were conceived in Chicago!

Very little chance I believe. USA has hosted the summer Olympics in 1904 (St. Louis), 1932 (LA), 1984 (LA), and 1996 (Atlanta), so that is against us. Also, Rio de Janeiro is very appealing due to it being the first real contender representing South America and the lower costs it would be to build everything.

I agree with C/M Runner. I think the IOC will take a chance on the potential concerns for the representation payoff in Rio.

The bidding war for US TV rights could be strong if the 2016 OG are in the western hemisphere, less so if not. The IOC members must be aware of this. So I think it's only Rio v. Chicago.

Chicago's ace in the hole is Obama. He'll do the final presentation.

Ah, Chicago. The city where I really learned how to smoke a cigarette, and where I learned to be a massive hypocrite. Home, sweet home.

According to the bookies, a 60pc chance it'll be in chicago. Hot favourite, but then again, so was Paris, and the recent report certainly seemed to give Rio a big thumbs up.

http://www.paddypower.com/bet/novelty-betting/sports-novelties/2016-olympics-special

the bookies?

Go to the source:

http://www.gamesbids.com/eng/bidindex/1216134654.html

Rio - 61.61 (up 1.66)

Chicago - 60.01 (up 1.64)

Tokyo - 59.20 (down 2.21)

Madrid - 57.80 (down 0.93)

Chicago and Tokyo are falling, Rio is rising.

"while the other bids will send their national leaders to Copenhagen for the final presentations, it seems United States President Barack Obama may not attend. If he does attend, expect Chicago's score to increase."

More

http://www.gamesbids.com/eng/olympic_bids/chicago_2016/1216134653.html

The poll on gamesbids.com:

What city do you want to win the 2016 Olympic Bid?

Not Sure 73

Chicago 3255

Madrid 3822

Rio 20930

Tokyo 40803

All the Japs are rigging the poll with their technology!

"All the Japs are rigging the poll with their technology!"

I just about fell out of my chair due to hysterical laughing after reading this. Thanks for the laugh!

I've read different stories that have each one of the four cities on top...pretty funny, actually. But the consensus seems to be Rio first, with Chicago a close second. I'd be very surprised if Tokyo or Madrid get it.

2016 Olympics in Chicago would be a great way for Obama to end his 2nd term. I think it'll happen.

And so let it be written...

I pray the Games come to Chicago. The USOC and the sports need the influx of cash.

I doubt the fact that the US hosted the Games in 1904 makes much difference.

The TV bidding rights (which already look to be strong) will be strengthened having the Games on US soil; the second best thing would be Rio (the Eastern time zone--or one east?).

However, based on what I heard about the Pan Am Games, Rio has the potential to be a disaster. The slums and criminals are a serious issue. Which economy can better sustain the Games: one in the US or one in South America? Seriously.

The IOC has Tokyo the leader.

1 in 4

Gamesbid.com is more bogus than the BCS. Gamesbid.com is total speculation and takes advantage of fans for particular bid cities. The IOC's last evaluation placed Tokyo 2016 in the lead. Chicago 2016 will likely bot get it because they didn't deposit the guaranteed bribe monies that the IOC requires, none of the facilities been built, and the Arabs will not vote for Chicago 2016 due to Obama's policies towards the Middle East. (Of course the puppet/occupation regimes in Iraq and Afghanistan have been ordered by the Pentagon to vote for Chicago 2016).

I can't see Tokyo getting it, another Asian country so soon after Beijing? Not likely.

The IOC seems to like rotating from continent to continent. Between the last western hemisphere Games and 2016, there have been/will be two Europe (Athens, London), one Asia (Beijing), and an Oceana (Sydney). Paris is too close to London in both time and distance and Tokyo is too close to Beijing in terms of time and space.

So I'd also see it as between Chicago and Rio. While there's a certain anti-American bias that will cost Chicago votes, it's also a safer pick in a lot of ways. The crime issues during the Pan American Games were very real, there are a boatload of construction projects involved in the bid, and the IOC doesn't need a repeat of Athens when there was a huge rush to finish construction in the last month and a number of venues weren't actually finished as planned, and their housing proposal is problematic. There's also the matter of Lulu getting term-limited out of office and whether the new government would have the same passion for hosting the Games that his government does, and questions about just how well the Brazilian economy will be come 2016. It's shown signs of actually living up to poential before only to tank because of general incompetence.

As for Chicago, I understand that the requested guarantees are now in place, which was the big concern in previous reports. Whether it's enough to overcome the bias, and how voters break once their original city is eliminated is up in the air.