Chicago Loses Bid for 2016 Olympic Games

By JULIET MACUR

COPENHAGEN — Chicago was stunningly eliminated in the first round of voting for the 2016 Olympics on Friday, with Rio de Janeiro and Madrid still in contention in the final round of voting by the International Olympic Committee. Tokyo was eliminated in the second round.

I.O.C. president Jacques Rogge made the announcement as the first round of voting concluded, a surprisingly early exit, especially because of President Barack Obama’s whirlwind trip to boost the bid of his adopted city. Chicago and Rio had been considered the favorites among Olympic insiders.

Mr. Obama was the first American president to make an in-person appeal for a bid city and first lady Michelle Obama had also come earlier this week to lobby I.O.C. members for votes. Chicago’s bid leaders had worked for nearly four years and spent close to $50 million to bring the Olympics to the United States for the first time in 20 years.

Throngs watching the voting in downtown Chicago’s Daley Plaza gasped in disappointment as the announcement was made.

United States Olympic Committee leaders appeared stunned by the news and had no comment as they left the voting hall. Mr. Obama was flying back to Washington at the time of the vote.

The announcement of the winner is expected at 6:30 p.m. local time, 12:30 Eastern time.

Teams from the four candidate cities — Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo — delivered their final presentations to the 104-member I.O.C. and answered every lingering question about the strengths and weaknesses of their bids earlier Friday.

A 10-person Chicago bid team, led by the president and Mrs. Obama, put on a presentation heavy on emotion and visual images without getting too deep into he details of the the bid.

“To host athletes and visitors from every corner of the globe is a high honor and a great responsibility,” Mr. Obama whose Chicago home is a short walk from the prospective Olympic Stadium. “And America is ready and eager to assume that sacred trust.”

In the official question-and-answer session following the Chicago presentation, Syed Shahid Ali, an I.O.C. member from Pakistan, asked the toughest question. He wondered how smooth it would be for foreigners to enter the United States for the Games because doing so can sometimes, he said, be “a rather harrowing experience.”

Mrs. Obama tapped the bid leader Patrick G. Ryan, so Mr. Obama could field that question.

“One of the legacies I want to see is a reminder that America at its best is open to the world,” he said, before adding that the White House and State Department would make sure that all visitors would feel welcome.

Tokyo went next and tried to overcome impressions conveyed by I.O.C. evaluations that its bid was lacking. The bid team emphasized to the committee how environmentally friendly its plans are and the positive impact an Olympics would have on the youth of Japan.

“A lot of I.O.C. members suggested that we needed more passion and emotion,” bid leader Dr. Ichiro Kono said afterward. “We wanted to show that.”

“It would be the best Olympic Games for the preservation of the world,” Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara said, referring to how green Tokyo’s Games would be.

Rio de Janeiro, considered by Olympic insiders a front-runner along with Chicago, followed Tokyo.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, president of Brazil, gave an impassioned speech to the membership, focusing Rio de Janeiro’s hope to host South America’s first Olympics. He said that of the top 10 economic powers in the world, Brazil is the only one not to host an Olympics.

“For the others it would be just one more Games, for us it would be an unparalleled opportunity,” he said. “It would send a message the Olympic Games belong to all people, all continents and all humanity.

He added, “Give us this chance and you will not regret it, be sure.”

The Rio bid also tried to dispel worries about crime.

“We know that some of you have questions about security,” Rio de Janeiro state Governor Sergio Cabral said, as he addressed the committee. “Changes have been made, happily as a result of sport.”

Cabral pointed out that at the 2007 Pan American Games, which were held in Rio de Janeiro, “saw no incidents large or small.”

Madrid gave its presentation last, as Spain made is fourth consecutive pitch to host an Olympics. Madrid was voted out of the competition for the 2012 Games in the third round after gathering the most votes in the previous round.

Presenters focused on the mantra, “Sport makes us equal. It makes us better,” and emphasized that Madrid enjoys more support among its residents than competing cities. In an opinion poll commissioned by the I.O.C. for the last technical evaluation, the Games had 85 percent support in Madrid and 86 percent nationally.

“Our candidacy is reliable because it is united politically and united with the feelings of the population and because it has shown that it could learn and improve,” Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero said when addressing the I.O.C. members.

Former I.O.C. president Juan Antonio Samaranch went as far as asking the I.O.C. members for a personal favor when he addressed the crowded room.

“Dear colleagues, I know I’m very near the end of my time, I’m 89 years old,” he said. “I ask you to consider granting my country the honor and also the duty to organize the Games and Paralympic Games in 2016.”

After Madrid finished, the I.O.C. disappeared behind closed doors to vote. The eligible voters cast their votes electronically – and secretly. The members from countries vying for the bid must sit out until their city is eliminated. (The United States has two I.O.C. members.) If no city receives a majority of the votes in the first round, the city with the lowest number of votes is dropped from the ballot. If there is a tie in the final round, I.O.C. President Jacques Rogge steps in to vote or asks the I.O.C. executive board to break the deadlock. The United States does not have a member on that board.

Chicago spent nearly $50 million preparing its bid and is trying to bring the Summer Games to the United States for the first time since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The last time a United States city hosted any Olympics was the Salt Lake City Winter Games in 2002.

Smiling and waving as he left the convention center to fly home, Mr. Obama said, “The only thing I’m upset about is that they arranged for me to follow Michelle. That’s always bad.” The United States Olympic Committee chairman, Larry Probst, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and two athletes — Olympic champion decathlete Bryan Clay and former Paralympian Linda Mastandrea — also spoke during the 45-minute presentation that was designed not to be too flashy.

“Our intent was to demonstrate to them we will be good partners and that we are people they could trust,” Doug Arnot, director of sports and operations for Chicago 2016.

The delegation’s presentation started with a video montage of Chicago, including bikini-wearing volleyball players on Lake Michigan beaches. The song, “Sweet Home Chicago” played in the background. “It made me miss home,” Mr. Obama said.

The last time around, in the competition to host the 2012 Games, London beat Paris by the slim margin of 54-50. New York City’s bid was eliminated in the second round of voting.

Every bid team brought distinguished leaders, including King Juan Carlos for Spain and Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama for Japan.

Dozens of Olympians have flooded the city to lobby for their city’s cause, including the Brazilian soccer legend Pelé.

“In these last few days, it’s all about momentum,” one I.O.C. member, Dick Pound, of Canada, said. “Every city knows that.”

With Mrs. Obama and Oprah Winfrey headlining the delegation, the Chicago team has been reminding I.O.C. members of their Olympic plan, which would put the Games along the shoreline of Lake Michigan and in century-old city parks, with Chicago’s dramatic skyline as the backdrop. The Chicago City Council voted 49-0 to cover any financial shortfalls, which is a first for a U.S. bid.

“Some of what the I.O.C. considers has nothing to do with the strength of the bids themselves,” said Frank Lavin, the former U.S. ambassador to Singapore, who worked on New York City’s failed bid to host the 2012 Games.

“A lot of it is political and that encompasses different levels: international politics, personalities, internal I.O.C. politics,” he said.