WASHINGTON: Obama Olympics it will not be in 2016. Blame it on Rio. Brazil's Rio de Janeiro will host the 31st Summer Olympic Games in 2016 after knocking out of contention Madrid, Tokyo, and Chicago -- the last one despite President Obama's personal pitch in favor of his home town, the first time an American President has ever staked his prestige in the matter. In a stunning rebuff to the US and its sports-fan President, the International Olympic Committee on Friday rejected Chicago in the very first round of voting, and then eliminated Tokyo and Madrid in successive rounds, before declaring South America's riotous entrepot the winner. The thumbs down to Chi-town came in a secret ballot even as Obama was still on Air Force One, winging his way back to Washington DC after a lightning four-hour visit to Copenhagen. He rushed there to lobby for the city and state he grew up in and represented as a social worker and lawmaker while still a young man. Chicago was considered a favorite to win the bid. But the pitch, and Obama's personal popularity, didn't work. One account suggested that Chicago - and the US- was torpedoed by a tough question from Syed Shahid Ali, an IOC member from Pakistan, who wondered how smooth it would be for foreigners to enter the US given recent experiences. There were also questions about crime and violence in the city's notorious South Side. Instead it was Rio, renowned for its carnival celebrations, soccer and samba music, and famed beaches such as Copacabana and Ipanema, which won the bid, despite its own reputation for crime and violence that matches Chicago. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva led Rio's lobbying effort, telling the IOC members, "Rio is ready. Give us this chance and you will not regret it." Promising to deliver "unforgettable games," Lula told IOC "you will see for yourselves the passion, the energy and the creativity of the Brazilian people." "I truly believe this is Brazil's time. For the others, it would be just another Games," Lula argued, pledging that, "It will not be just Brazil's Games but South America's. It will serve to inspire the 180 million young people on the continent. It is time to redress the balance." Brazil's trumping of the US was especially sweet since it has taken Washington head-on over several issues, including border security. Brazil's victory may also hold important lessons for India, which is struggling to get ready for the Commonwealth Games it is scheduled to host in 2010, but is hoping to pitch for the Olympics in 2024 or thereafter. With Rio now joining Beijing (2008) and Moscow (1980) as Olympic hosts, India will be the only BRIC country not to have hosted the Games by 2016. Meanwhile, the air went out of Windy City, as Chicago is called, when the word came of its elimination. Most galling for US was the fact that President Obama, Chicago's native son, had made the long journey to Copenhagen, to lobby for the Olympics. -- and returned empty handed. Washington pundits were already nattering about the President's political loss of face. Chicago's leaders had worked for nearly four years and spent close to $50 million to bring the Olympics back to the US, which last hosted it in Atlanta in 1996. But in the end, it met the same fate as New York City, which lost its Olympic bid in the last cycle.
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