Oly: Obama backs Chicago Olympic bid: 'we want these Games'
Thu Sep 17 04:06:49 EST 2009
Wed Sep 16 18:06:49 UTC 2009
WASHINGTON, Sept 16 AFP - US President Barack Obama on Wednesday delivered a strong, personal and highly visible endorsement to the 2016 Olympic bid of his hometown of Chicago, declaring: "we want these Games."
"Chicago is ready, the American people are ready, we want these Games," Obama said, in an event at the White House dedicated to the Olympics, Paralympics and youth sport.
"I am fired up about this," Obama, a former senator of Illinois and resident of Chicago, said on the south lawn of the White House. "Let the Games begin, right here in the United States of America."
Chicago were originally seen as the frontrunners but have in many people's eyes lost ground to Rio de Janeiro - bidding to become the first South American city to host the Games - while Tokyo and Madrid are believed to be lagging behind them.
The vote by the 100-plus International Olympic Committee (IOC) members takes place in Copenhagen on October 2.
