Eyeing the Olympic Competition

Now that Chicago has been named the U.S. bid city for the 2016 Olympic Games, there’s a lot of work ahead for the Windy City. Chicago will have plenty of global competition for the privilege to host the Olympics, including Tokyo, Madrid, Prague and Rio de Janeiro. Other possibilities are Rome; St. Petersburg, Russia; Monterey, Mexico; Doha, Qatar; and Baku, Azerbaijan.

Here’s how I analyze the competition:

** With London hosting the 2012 Games, the IOC may be reluctant to choose another European city in back-to-back Games. So Madrid, Prague, Rome and St. Petersburg may be eliminated.

** With Beijing hosting the Games in 2008 and Sydney, Australia in 2000, would the IOC bring the Games back to the Asian-Pacific region (Tokyo) for a third time in five Olympiads?

** The two Middle Eastern states, Qatar and Azerbaijan, are located near the Iranian border, so security could be a concern.

** Atlanta was the last North American city to host the Games in 1996, so the Games may be due to be hosted by a North or South American city. That’s why Chicago has a solid chance to host the Games in 2016. But no South American city has every hosted the Games which is why Rio de Janeiro is considered one of the frontrunners. Monterey, Mexico, will make have a hard time competing against the heavy-hitters.

It may all come down to Chicago vs. Rio. It’ll be hard to bet against either one.