John Niyo

As Rio celebrates '16 Olympic bid, U.S. hangs its head again

Michigan athletic director Bill Martin was on the phone Friday morning, talking about the wide-reaching benefits of a successful Chicago bid for the 2016 Olympics.

With 205 countries converging on the Great Lakes region before those Summer Games, college campuses around the state of Michigan undoubtedly would've been hosting foreign teams for pre-Olympic training camps. Cities on the west side of the state surely could've seen a spike in tourism dollars.

And the Olympic movement in the U.S., to say nothing of the money-grubbing International Olympic Committee, would reap the financial rewards as well, with higher TV rights fees. Chicago's bid team projected an Olympics for the Second City -- backed by a cross-Atlantic pitch from President Barack Obama this week -- would generate $3.8 billion in revenue here in the States, nearly one-third of that from sponsorship money.

"If the IOC voting members go with their brain, and not their heart, Chicago is a slam dunk to win this," said Martin, effectively foreshadowing a heartbreaking result a few hours later for the U.S. Olympic Committee that he once served as president. "They have an outstanding plan, great venues, magnificent scenery, hotels, shopping -- they've got everything that you would want. And furthermore, some 60-70 percent of the big dollars that are available globally for the Olympic training come from the TV rights in our country or U.S. sponsors. And in order to keep those relationships strong, it simply makes sense that the Games be in the U.S. every 20 years or so."

They'll have to wait quite a bit longer than that now, though.

Rio is last one standing

Blame it on Rio de Janeiro, as Brazil's winning presentation tugged at the emotional heartstrings, urging the IOC to make good on a promise to finally -- finally! -- award an Olympics to the South American continent.

And blame it on former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, who played one last chip with the Euro-centric voting board as the 89-year-old introduced Madrid's bid Friday in Copenhagen, Denmark. ("Dear colleagues, I know I am very near the end of my time," he began. "I am, as you know, 89 years old.")

Madrid actually won the first round of voting -- Chicago was surprisingly eliminated instead of Tokyo -- before finishing a distant second to Rio de Janeiro in the final vote.

Australian IOC member Kevan Gosper blamed the U.S. bid's early exit on "a stupid bloc vote," the Associated Press reported. Others suggested a rift with the still-dysfunctional USOC was the reason, while President Obama's pitch -- "The nation that has been shaped by people from around the world," he told voters, "wants a chance to inspire it once more." -- came up embarrassingly short in the end.

U.S. dealt another ego hit

The U.S. has failed miserably with its last two Summer Olympic bids, first with New York vying for the 2012 Games that went to London, and now with Chicago 2016's $50 million flop.

There are myriad reasons for both, but the truth is American bid cities remain tainted by the troubles that plagued the last two Olympics held here.

The 1996 Atlanta Games weren't just a logistical nightmare marred by a bombing in Centennial Park; they also were the "Coca-Cola Olympics" -- a celebration of crass commercialism. And the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City were overshadowed by a bid scandal that undressed the IOC for what it really is.

So who's next? It likely won't be Chicago trying again for 2020, as Mayor Richard Daley, whose political clout took a serious blow, told reporters in Copenhagen, "it would not make sense for an American city to try again in 2020."

Given the financial commitment involved -- London's estimated tab is $11 billion and counting -- I'm not sure it makes sense for any city to try anymore. That's not the Olympic legacy Chicago's bid leaders had in mind, but it might be the one they're leaving behind.

john.niyo@detnews.com (313) 982-3810