The crowd at Daley Plaza quickly fell quiet when Chicago was eliminated. (Photo by Caitlin Hacker)
ChicagoStorytelling’s Forrest Davis and Katie Karpowicz interviewed people at Daley Plaza Friday about the city’s stunning first-round elimination in the 2016 Olympic bid decision by the International Olympic Committee.
Rio de Janeiro, the favorite to win the bid, defeated Madrid, 66-32, in the final round of voting by the IOC. Tokyo, the other of the four finalists, was eliminated in the second round.
Chicago’s early exit left many observers surprised, considering President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey played key roles on the bid team.
Rio’s win marks the first time an Olympic Games will be held in South America.
ChicagoStorytelling’s Jessica Ernst interviews DePaul University professor Mike Conklin about the International Olympic Committee’s decision to eliminate Chicago from the Olympic bid. Conklin, a sports reporter and columnist for 35 years, organized the McCormick Foundation Specialized Reporting Institute on the 2016 Olympics held at DePaul in September.
Daley Plaza reaction after the 2016 Olympic announcement. (Photo by Poppy Peterson)
ChicagoStorytelling’s Poppy Peterson, Jake Scott, Forrest Davis, Caitlin Hacker and Kevin Dempsey shot photos of the scene at Daley Plaza on Friday morning as Chicagoans reacted to the city’s early exit from the 2016 Olympic Bid.
The crowd at Daley Plaza just after the announcement. (Photo by Jake Scott)
By Kevin Dempsey and Jake Scott
It went from high hopes, to the lowest of lows Friday as Chicago lost its bid for the 2016 Olympics with a last-place finish.
Outside of Daley Plaza, a crowd gathered to show support for the city’s bid and watch results. Within a moment, several in the crowd were stunned when they learned that Chicago lost in the first round of International Olympic Committee voting.
