I'm still happy, though, that I managed to make some money out of my prediction!!!!!

Anyway, just wondering if there's gonna be any event to mark the anniversary in Rio?

And, have disappointments faded with time further north of the Rio Grande?

Also, came across this:

1 year later no regrets from head of Chicago Olympics bid

On the 20th floor of the Aon Center, amid the largely empty offices, are a few souvenirs of the activity that filled the area a year ago.

The label on a September issue of Forbes magazine says the subscriber is "Joseph Ahern, Chicago 2016 Olympics.''

Visible through a window is a banner with the Daniel Burnham exhortation to make no small plans, which Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid adopted as a leitmotif.

Olympic memorabilia still hangs on some walls, including those in the office of Patrick Ryan, the former CEO of both Aon and the Summer Games bid committee that was headquartered on the 20th floor.

Chicago was the first of four 2016 finalists to be eliminated in the Oct. 2, 2009 vote of the International Olympic Committee, which would choose Rio de Janeiro as the host.

Ryan said he saw the handwriting for a Rio triumph on the wall exactly a month earlier, when the IOC evaluation commission issued its report, which glossed over Rio's crime and transportation issues.

"We knew when we started (in 2006) if Rio proved to (the IOC) it could handle the Games, they would go there, because the Games never have been in South America,'' he said.

Ryan has moved on and become, at age 73, boss of Ryan Specialty Group, an insurance company he launched last winter. But the posters of past Olympic Games in his new company's office seem like a sad, almost masochistic reminder of what always be missing: a poster of Chicago 2016.

"I'm not sad at all,'' Ryan said. "I have a very positive perspective on the bid.

"I keep telling myself this isn't a rationalization for not winning, but I truly believe the bid left a strong legacy.''

The clearest evidence is World Sport Chicago, created during the bid process to bring Olympic-related sports events to the city and to use Olympic sport and ideals in programs with the Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Park District.

Funded with about 10 percent of the $75.9 million raised privately to bankroll the bid, World Sport Chicago has current cash assets of $5.2 million, according to its CEO, Scott Myers. It has spent about $800,000 in assets this year but, Myers said, "we intend to do more aggressive fund-raising soon.''

There is a lesser-known legacy piece: The 2016 Fund for Chicago Neighborhoods. It used $2 million in funding from the bid committee for what would have been Olympic-related job training to attract $18 million in federal matching funds to help the unemployed in some neighborhoods that would have gained Olympic benefits.

Ryan said there is also a legacy in the venue and operations plan Chicago 2016 drew up, a plan that can be the foundation for a future Chicago bid "so they won't have to spend the money we did starting from scratch.''

Mayor Richard M. Daley, who once called bidding for the Olympics a con job but bought into the idea whole hog in 2006, blasted the IOC Wednesday at an international meeting, Beyond Sport, in Chicago.

"Money is the game of the Olympics. It's not about the Olympian,'' Daley said.

U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun told reporters last Friday he thought a U.S. bid for 2020 was "highly unlikely.'' Should the USOC choose to seek the 2022 or 2026 Winter Games, it might be two decades before Chicago or any other U.S. city makes a Summer Games bid.

Ryan, a billionaire who ran the bid without salary, spent "a few million dollars'' of his own money on a private jet for his relentless vote-seeking trips. He drove himself to exhaustion.

"I believed until the evaluation commission report came out we had a great opportunity to win,'' Ryan said. "After that, a blind man could have seen what the IOC wanted.''

To project an image of vitality during the bid, Ryan had worn contact lenses that drove his eyes crazy. He has eyeglasses now. And hindsight as clear as his vision of an Olympics in Chicago.

Chicago Tribune

Where will 2020 go to?

1. Abuja

2. Baku

3. Cape Town

4. Delhi

5. Gdansk

6. Istanbul

7. Madrid

8. Prague

9. Qatar

10. Rio de Janeiro

11. Roma

12. Tokyo

4/10/2010

(ATR) For one last time, leaders of the bids for the 2016 Olympics head back to Lausanne to meet with the IOC and make suggestions on how to improve the bidding process.

Representatives of Tokyo were the first to meet Thursday with IOC staff in two-hour sessions, followed by Chicago, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro.

IOC Olympic Games Executive Director Gilbert Felli led the debriefings, which always take place some months after the campaign for the Games is over. The meetings at IOC headquarters are the first time the 2016 cities have been together since Oct. 2 when Rio was voted the winner at the IOC Session in Copenhagen.

“We received the 2016 Candidate Cities as part of normal operating procedures, and all four provided us with good information that will help us with future candidate procedures. We will now present this information to our Executive Board,” said Felli in a statement to Around the Rings.

So far only the team from Tokyo has gone public their ideas for change. At the top of the list: allowing IOC members to visit bid cities.

Once the rule for the IOC, bid city visits were the first casualty of the Salt Lake City vote-buying scandal of the late 1990’s. IOC President Jacques Rogge has steadfastly refused to go along with a return to bid city visits.

Japanese Olympic Committee international chief Yasuhiro Nakamori tells Around the Rings that in the case of Tokyo, “IOC members could see that it is not just a concrete jungle. They could receive a correct impression of the city,” he said.

Nakamori says Tokyo also suggested a shorter international campaign, a move he says will reduce costs for bid cities.

Tokyo, as well as the other bids, have said they support the briefing for IOC members that debuted last June in Lausanne. The two-day briefing allowed the 2016 bids to present the technical aspects of their bids to nearly 90 IOC members four months before the vote. The presentations for the IOC members grew out of suggestions made at past bid city debriefings like the one held in Lausanne today.

Along with Nakamori, bid CEO Ichiro Kono, JOC board member and businessman Masato Mizuno and a representative from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government took part in the briefing for Japan.

The team of four from Chicago included USOC staffers Robert Fasulo and Chris Sullivan and Chicago 2016 executives Dave Bolger and John Murray.

CEO Mercedes Coghen brought a team from Madrid that also included managing director Antonio Fernandez and Spanish Olympic Committee secretary general Victor Sanchez.

Rio 2016 President Carlos Nuzman and marketing director Leonardo Gryner represented the Rio de Janeiro bid.

http://aroundtherings.com/articles/view.aspx?id=34610

and u?

How much a render or a video can play a major role in the choice?

Should a great video really change the vote? Or the bid logo show a strong or weak bid?

Rio is one of the poorest cities I have ever visited. One of the first things I saw when I arrived there were children going through garbage dumps searching for food. If I lived in Rio, I would be ashamed that millions of tourists would be coming to my city for the Olympics and that millions of people will see Rio on television.

Rio is rated as the 6th most dangerous city in the world. The murder rate for Rio is double that of New York City. Brazil has a poor human rights record. In 2008, 190 GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual or transsexual) people were murdered because of their sexual orientation. This number is probably much higher because hate crimes often go unreported. There is a homocaust going on in Brazil.

I would rather see Brazil spend billions of dollars providing food, clothing, shelter and medical care for its citizens rather than on the Olympics. I predict that the 2016 Olympics will be a fiasco.

The logic was irrefutable for the IOC to seek Olympics in the Western Hemisphere for 2016, says one member.

Tokyo would come too quickly after Beijing for another Asian Olympics.

The IOC stuck to its un-written rule: no successive summer Games on the same continent. Madrid bid leaders should have saved sorrow and energy by realizing this three years ago.

The Obama Backfire

Did the coming of President Barack Obama help or hurt the Chicago bid? Some IOC members were annoyed that they had to get on the bus at 7:15 a.m. to be at the Bella Center before the roads closed down for Obama. Televisions showed Air Force One arriving and Obama's large motorcade.

IOC members grew impatient waiting, they say, for a half hour to meet Mrs. Obama.

The Fall of Tokyo

Tokyo got sympathy votes to avoid losing face, illusory though this support proved. But it sucked away votes that might have gone to Chicago, making a first round rejection possible for the U.S. bid.

The team from Tokyo never connected with a message.

The Paso Doble

Rio and Madrid urged their supporters to vote for them in the first round so they wouldn't run the risk of an early elimination.

Like the television show "Survivor," Rio, Madrid and Tokyo banded together to get rid of the U.S., thought to be the strongest competition for Rio or Madrid if they got through to the final round. This begs the question: Why doesn't the U.S. have any alliances?

Chicago: Help Wanted

The U.S. was told to be humble, but then was found wanting in aggressiveness.

Pat Ryan, at age 72, wasn't the right face for the bid.

The well-connected Peter Ueberroth was a no-show. He was named USOC honorary president and was supposed to serve a year after he stepped down last October so he could help Chicago's bid. In fact, Ueberroth literally disappeared after he retired and was succeeded by Probst.

But Ueberroth’s absence may have been a blessing for Chicago. He has alienated too many IOC members because of his aggressive stance on the revenue-sharing issue.

Conspiracy Theories

The IOC wanted to get rid of the USOC leadership with a Chicago loss. So far, the goal may be halfway reached with the decision of acting CEO Stephanie Streeter to not seek the job on a permanent basis.

A Rio win could mean $500 million less in television rights fees, or up to a billion dollars including marketing. U.S. cable TV giant Comcast hopes to buy NBC, which might end up saving cash with lower rights fees (as would presumably any successful U.S. bidder). The chairman of NBC Sports, Dick Ebersol, is a notable critic of the USOC, helping to derail a Chicago bid. Comcast, by the way, was to be the partner of the USOC in the U.S. Olympic Network that drew the wrath of the IOC in July.

No Clout

Former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch is no longer able to determine the outcome of an IOC election, though he has a loyal following ,evidenced by the 30 or so votes that sent Madrid to slaughter in the third round.

For Tokyo, low influence of IOC members, despite their seniority.

Bob Ctvrtlik perhaps didn't have the clout to be the USOC international vice president. Ctvrtlik and Sergei Bubka of Ukraine came off the IOC at the same time when their terms as members of the Athletes Commission expired two years ago. Ukraine made Sergei Bubka the NOC president and he was quickly re-nominated to the IOC; Ctvrtlik was left on the outside.

The U.S. has little international presence in the Olympic Movement, with not a single Olympic sport federation led by someone from the U.S.

Written by Ed Hula and Karen Rosen.

This is the article ATR shows. Read it. It looks like JJ posts.

Ignoble IOC Treatment of Nobelist Obama

October 9, 2009

By Philip Hersh

One thing came immediately to mind when I learned Friday morning that President Barack Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Wonder what the petty pooh-bahs of the International Olympic Committee think now of embarrassing a Chicago bid endorsed by the Nobel Peace Prize winner?

It was one thing - and entirely justifiable - to award the 2016 Summer Games to Rio de Janeiro. It was another to eliminate Chicago in the first round and, in effect, reject all the overtures President Obama has made to the Olympic movement on behalf of the United States.

The President made several videos emphasizing a new U.S. commitment to re-engage the world and said a Chicago Olympics would be a wonderful vehicle for improving global relations and show that commitment. Then he showed his respect for the IOC and the Olympic movement by becoming the first U.S. President ever to appear in person on behalf of a bid.

After all that, some IOC members chose to avenge old grudges with the U.S. Olympic Committee rather than appreciate the efforts and pledges President Obama had made. Some even suggested they voted against Chicago because they had been inconvenienced by security arrangements for President Obama last Friday in Copenhagen.

For years, former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch had shamelessly lobbied to get the IOC a peace prize for its role in helping reintegrate a sports world segregated by race (South Africa) and politics (Soviet Bloc, the divided Koreas).

The IOC still is waiting for its Nobel. No surprise there. Its members are more skilled at the ignoble.

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/sports...list-obama.html

-

Twelve dead and helicopter downed as Rio de Janeiro drug gangs go to warHost city of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics shaken by violence as warlords battle for control of the cocaine trade

Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro

Two weeks after Rio de Janeiro celebrated winning the 2016 Olympic Games, the Brazilian city was tonight bracing itself for a further night of violence after an intense gun battle erupted in one of the city's favelas and a police helicopter was shot down, killing two officers.

The violence, intense even by Rio's standards, began in the Morro dos Macacos, a hillside area in northern Rio. The shanty town, controlled by the Amigos dos Amigos (Friends of Friends) drug faction, one of three heavily-armed cocaine gangs that control many of Rio's 1,000-odd slums, was reportedly invaded in the early hours of Saturday morning by members of a rival gang, the Red Command. Police say traffickers from the Red Command were attempting to seize control of the local cocaine trade.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/1...ence-helicopter

NORTH-AMERICA: good chance

- I wonder if the USA will bid with Denver

SOUTH-AMERICA: no chance after the decision for Rio de Janeiro,

- but I hope for Winter Oympics in Santiago de Chile (we have to persuade the Chilenians that they are capable to host) one day

AFRICA: no chance at all, since lack of capable places

ASIA: good chance

- Pyeongchang and Harbin will play a mayor role in the decision

EUROPE: good chance

- Annecy and München will play a mayor role in the decision

OCEANIA: no chance,

- but I do hope for Kiwi Winter Olympics in Christchurch one day

awesome!!!

I'd take a bunch of Nobel prize winners ANYTIME over hosting a sweaty affair like a Summer Olympics. The NOBELS are the creme de la creme of human achievement...not those ridiculous sports.

And if you'll look at the cumulative list of ALL Nobel prize winners so far, the US is far and ahead of the pack:

US - 312 Nobel winners so far (not including the 2009 winners; including 16 Nobel PEACE prize winners!!) - I don't think that's such a bad catch after all.

2nd place is Germany with 102

UK is 3rd with 97

Japan - 16

Spain - 7

Brazil - 0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel...ates_by_country

So not all news coming out of Scandinavia is bad this week!!

Plus, our Supreme Court opens today back in business as usual.

Which new sports do you think will be introduced for Rio 2016?

I think it could be Surfing...

I'm not surprised.

u see...

Ballot 1: (95 eligible, 94 valid ballots)

Madrid - 28

Rio - 26

Tokyo - 22

Chicago -18

Ballot 2: (97 eligible, 1 abstention, 95 valid ballots)

Rio - 46

Madrid - 29

Tokyo - 20

Ballot 3: (99 eligible, 1 abstention, 98 valid ballots)

Rio - 66

Madrid - 32

Rio de Janeiro elected.

http://www.gamesbids.com/eng/olympic_bids/...1216134739.html

Analysis of what the U.S. will now lose not hosting the Olympics along with what the 2016 Rio Olympics will lose since they will not be hosted in the United States.

Check out this video: http://www.1cast.com/l/212503

Yes yes the Rio presentation was an absolute disaster and Tokyo was robbed and all that – however having had a good nights sleep and a good think about it – I can honestly say I am ok with this decision.

I have received an email from one of my mates in the Japanese Olympic Committee – I won’t post the whole thing as most of it is personal stuff, but one statement was -

Nice day for Olympics – there is a step forward here.

Rio de Janerio was a mixed bag for sure – but this was the best bid we were probably going to see from South America for many bid cycles. I am sure in the evaluating phase (even though so many of the concerns from 2012 were not addressed or remedied satisfactorily) the commission felt the need to pump up the positives to get Rio through. While I found that quite fraudulent, I concede it was done with the right intention.

Did Rio deserve the Games? No – no-one deserves the Games regardless of where they are situated in the world. Do the Games need Rio? Hmm, not so much. After the SLC scandal I would have argued that the IOC needed a fresh start – however Beijing showed the world how all consuming a passion for sport could be and Vancouver is showing the world how you organised a Games without building up a few generations worth of debt.

Rio will have many challenges – I personally see the build up being an Athens style fiasco – however the 2007 Pan Ams have Rio at a much more advanced stage than Athens was in 1997.

I personally feel it is the wrong time for Rio – 2020 after the World Cup would make mre sense but the IOC is many things – stupid is not one of them.

Congrats Rio.

Madrid – an amazing job. Samaranch yet again proved his mettle as a speaker of diplomat calibre.

Tokyo – you showed a whole new side – of a young, fun metropolis. Bravo!

Chicago – unfairly thrown aside but your bid was practically flawless and set a new benchmark for future US bids.

So, here's what for me needs to be done to sell me on a Rio Olympics:

- Transportation between the clusters. This has been a big sticking point over the bid from word go for me. All four clusters need to be connected by both roads and alternative transportation and it needs to be proven to work and work well before 2016.

- The Olympic Stadium. Sorry, I hate that the stadium being used for the ceremonies is only going to host one other event - the gold medal soccer match. I'm hoping that the athletics stadium would be considered as an alternative site for the ceremonies.

- Improving the city's status. Much was made of potential crime and poverty issues in Rio. Now that the Olympics are coming to town, this is a golden opportunity to try and fix these issues and truly make Rio as a world class status city.

That's all I can think of. Consider this all constructive criticism and I wish Rio the very best.

Good short article from NYT.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/sports/04usoc.htm