NEW YORK The United States Olympic Committee said today that it intends to proceed with a U.S. bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016.
The USOC said it would formally nominate either Chicago or Los Angeles to the International Olympic Committee as the United States applicant city for the 2016 Games. San Francisco had been in the running until late last year when logistics and finances led city officials to withdraw itself from consideration. San Diego, Houston and Philadelphia had also considered putting in a bid before dropping out.
New York had been among the finalists for the 2012 Summer Games that were awarded to London. The last Summer Games hosted by the U.S. were in 1996 in Atlanta. North America will be in the spotlight when Vancouver hosts the 2010 Winter Games.
Other countries that have moved forward with plans to vie for the 2016 Summer Games include Argentina, Chile, Spain, Portugal and Italy.
The Colorado Springs, Colo.-based USOC said it made the decision following an 18-month evaluation process that has involved five U.S. cities and in-person interviews with more than 100 leaders in international sports.
“We began our evaluation process 18 months ago with one specific goal in mind, which was to assess whether or not a U.S. bid for the 2016 Games could be competitive internationally,” USOC Chairman Peter Ueberroth said in a statement. “Based on our analysis, we believe the time is right for a U.S. city to bid, and we fully intend to proceed with a unified, national effort to bring the games back to America in 2016.
“In Chicago and Los Angeles, we have two outstanding cities that are working every day in partnership with the USOC to develop bids that are of the highest technical merit,” added Ueberroth. “These cities understand that, if chosen as the U.S. applicant city, the competitiveness of the international process will be beyond anything they have ever experienced. The unprecedented global competition to host the games is a reflection of how far-reaching and important the Olympic movement is to our world today.”
The USOC said there are four more critical steps in the process: On Jan. 22, Chicago and Los Angeles will submit their domestic bid books to the USOC. At the end of February and the beginning of March, following a comprehensive review of the domestic bid books, a USOC evaluation team will conduct a two-day technical evaluation in each city. On April 14, the evaluation team will present its findings to the USOC board of directors. In addition, the Chicago and Los Angeles 2016 bid committees will make their final presentations to the USOC board of directors.
U.S. Will Go for 2016 Summer Games
