POSTED: Monday August 10th 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement of USOC Commitment to Chicago 2016 by CEO Stephanie Streeter

All of our hopes and dreams for bringing the Olympic Games back to the United States are anchored in Chicago 2016 and the IOC decision on October 2.

Several recent news reports indicate that a number of U.S. cities are considering future Olympic bids.  While it is always encouraging to see enthusiasm for the Olympic Movement, the USOC has been on record for more than two years in proclaiming that there will be absolutely no consideration of any future bids - winter or summer - from the U.S. while Chicago is on the international stage. 

Let me reiterate that position in the most adamant terms.  Chicago is not only our current bid city, it is our only bid city, and it is the sole focus of our efforts.

We are now 52 days from the decision on the 2016 Host City.  All of our hopes and dreams for bringing the Olympic Games back to the United States are anchored in Chicago 2016 and the IOC decision on October 2.

Through our enduring bidding partnership, Chicago 2016 has earned our gratitude and respect.  The City of Broad Shoulders has placed the United States in a great position to bring home the world’s greatest celebration of humanity.

From my point-of-view, what Chicago Mayor Daley and Chicago 2016 Chair and CEO Pat Ryan have accomplished in their quest for the Games is nothing less than extraordinary.

 They have developed a magnificent plan for the Games in the heart of the city on the shores of Lake Michigan that will deliver a spectacular experience for the athletes.  They have built a powerful partnership with the Obama Administration that has resulted in a new White House Office of Olympic, Paralympic and Youth Sport.

They have developed a remarkable legacy program through World Sport Chicago - the Urban Youth Sport Initiative - that is engaging young people in Olympic and Paralympic sport in Chicago’s urban center, a program that has been endorsed, through Mayor Daley’s influence, by the U.S. Conference of Mayors and is now being adapted in six U.S. cities; Indianapolis, Louisville, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City and St. Louis.

They have aligned the public and private sectors behind the bid, including leading U.S. corporations and foundations, to ensure that the Games can be produced without risk and that the Olympic Movement will greatly benefit from the infusion of new American resources.

 In short, they have managed to capture the imagination of individuals and organizations across our country and have achieved a degree of national interest that no previous U.S. bid has been able to mount. 

With less than two months to go before the IOC’s decision in Copenhagen, two months in which it is essential for us to capture the attention of the global Olympic Family, it is equally essential that the USOC sustain a 110 percent focus on the needs of Chicago 2016.

So, with all due respect to those cities that are dreaming about one day bidding for the Games, now is not the time.  This is Chicago’s time.  Please join all of us at the USOC in standing with Chicago 2016.  Given what they’ve accomplished in projecting the right image for our country, it is clear they have earned our full respect and devotion.                               

For more information, please contact the USOC Communications Division at (719) 866-4529.

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Keywords · Stephanie Streeter · USOC · Chicago 2016 · olympic bids

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