2016 Olympics

As someone who would love to work for the IOC or the US Olympic Committee, the 2016 bidding process has really interested me. Part of this might be because one of the cities that has made the short list is Chicago, and the site proposed for the Olympic Stadium is less than a mile from where I live. So I guess it affects me a lot. And the community that I've sort of become a part of.

Anyways, they announced the short list for the bid today. Chicago is up against Madrid, Rio, and Tokyo. It's kind of a who's who of exciting cities. And there is really no front runner, which makes the bidding process more exciting.

So here are my opinions on each of the host cities and their chances:

1. Madrid

I'm not really sure that the IOC is going to want another European country for 2016. I mean the 2012 Olympics are going to be in London, which is not thaaat far away from Madrid. Honestly I think they were just being nice letting Madrid on to the short list. They were on the shortlist for 2012 too, and I'm pretty sure their proposals were the same as the last round.

2. Tokyo

Ditto on the repetition of continents thing. Beijing 2008 and Tokyo 2016 might be a little too close to one another for the IOC to throw their support to Tokyo. And I'm not sure Tokyo has room for the Olympics. And Nagano in 1998 was pretty lame, so the IOC might want to just forget about Tokyo for a little bit.

3. Rio de Janiero

I think Rio has a better chance than any for getting some real support from the IOC. South America proper has never hosted an Olympics, so it would be a cool FIRST TIME! kind of thing. And Rio could put on a hell of an opening/closing ceremony. I've read that the IOC is kind of against Brazil though because the World Cup is supposed to be there in 2014... um yeah, that might be a bit of an overload.

4. Chicago

So then there is Chicago. A nice American city which can be relied on to put on a good show. I feel like America is more of a fall back than anything for these sorts of things. The IOC knows we can do it, but they like to at least try and support other bids. Chicago might be bypassed because of the London/Chicago similarity, but at this point I think Chicago has more of a chance than any.

Honestly though, this is a tough crowd. We'll see what happens in the next year, but I could really see it going to any of these at this point. I know where I want it to go (*Rio*Chicago*) so I guess I can only hope at this point.

Oh, and if Chicago gets it, I might be able to finagle a really cool job out of this. Like a DREAM JOB sort of thing. But only if...