I remember watching the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta when I was a kid. My elementary school class even took a field trip to watch the San Francisco leg of the Olympic Torch relay, and I can still visualize the people crowding the streets. There’s something special about having your country host the Summer Olympics: an overwhelming sense of national pride, something that has dwindled in recent years.
Photo: Ingorrr
On Oct. 2, the International Olympic Committee (ICO) will meet in Copenhagen to decide upon the location of the 2016 Summer Olympics. The Obamas will be flying to the capital of Denmark to make a final pitch for Chicago to the ICO. The president’s hometown must compete with some the world’s most beautiful and affluent cities: Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo. Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics has been met with mixed feelings from Americans, and in particular, residents of Chicago. Some feel that hosting the Olympics would be too costly (London has already spent triple its original budget!), while others feel that hosting the games would generate more revenue for the Windy City.
Why do you think Chicago would make a good venue for the 2016 Summer Olympics? Leave a comment below.
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