Congratulations Rio!!

Despite four years, millions of dollars in planning and a last-ditch pitch from President Obama, the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid ultimately fell short. Even the president's star billing wasn't enough to put Chicago over the top in what some experts said was the tightest race for the Games in its history. But the president's pitch, along with the star power of First Lady Michelle Obama and TV queen Oprah Winfrey, couldn't sway enough votes.

Chicago were eliminated in the first round of the 2016 Olympic voting.

In the short term, CBS 2 Mike Flannery reports that the Chicago defeat leaves Obama politically wounded by taking on a fight that he really didn't have to take.

I thought Obama was/is a strategist and he knows how to pick his fights! Na dis one don turn him over.

[img]http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20091002/capt.photo_1254492002750-7-0.jpg?x=400&y=320&q=85&sig=CZCyZNH1ZY2mF_g5maXJMQ--[/img]

Chei! This man don suffer for IOC members hands today

too bad,it made him look pathetic becos he had no business going there.

He should've known better. The dude doesn't know that not all peeps or folks as he put it are into him. Any slightest chance and they'll love captalise on it to make him look foolish.

He had absolutely no biz in going there. . . Next time he would tread carefully. The right wing are gonna captalize on it to humuliate him the more. In all, the gamble wasn't worth it

Oh for f**ks sake! Just cos they lost. Soooooo bloody what. Hows that humiliating.

fine i agree that d press will paint it as a huge loss for obama but i strongly disagree with d assertion that he should not have tried. wat Most people fail to understand is that d chicago bid was launched 4 yrs ago wen obama was just a senator and there was no way he wud stay away from supporting his home no matter d obstacles he faced. that wud have been cowardice. Afterall brazillian and spanish leaders were there too. commonn sense did point to rio since south america had neva hosted it b4 and the ioc wud not pass off the idea of a carnival flavoured games. Are u guys sayin Mcain or Hillary wud have succeded where obama failed if there were in power instead? All this means Chicago neva stood a chance. Abeg make una free d guy jo

winsom,loosom. He won presicendy,that dont mean he gonna win this for IL

snowdrops:

Oh for f**ks sake! Just cos they lost. Soooooo bloody what. Hows that humiliating.

I tire for NL oo. Help me ask dem ehn?

snowdrops:

Oh for f**ks sake! Just cos they lost. Soooooo bloody what. Hows that humiliating.

Dude, calm down. you be too young to raise ya blood levels like that.    Obama didn't need a soothsayer to tell him Chicago was gonna lose the bid. The right wing folks have seized the opportunity to humuliate him. Go check the headlines on all those republican gay sites. DrudgeReport, Breitbart and even huffington post, a liberal news site.

The conservatives(Republicans) erupted in applause over chicago's bid failure   

These folks always stoop so low. . .

Africason:

Dude, calm down. you be too young to raise ya blood levels like that.    Obama didn't need a soothsayer to tell him Chicago was gonna lose the bid. The right wing folks have seized the opportunity to humuliate him. Go check the headlines on all those republican gay sites. DrudgeReport, Breitbart and even huffington post, a liberal news site.

The conservatives(Republicans) erupted in applause over chicago's bid failure   

These folks always stoop so low. . .

I saw the headlines with those ppl at some conservative event all cheering because Chicago didn't get the Olympic bid. It just makes me soooo sick.

It's going to be a hell of a party in Rio and I'm so happy for them, it's just fear other countries in the world get the chance to host the Olympics, who knows maybe some time in the future Nigeria would have the chance to host the Olympics.

If the Republicans are cheering now I wonder what the would be doing if God forbid one day we get attacked again like we did in 911.

snowdrops:

Oh for f**ks sake! Just cos they lost. Soooooo bloody what. Hows that humiliating.

chic2pimp:

I tire for NL oo. Help me ask dem ehn?

It doesn't matter to you but it matters to America and his own almost-battered image.

Expect Faux news to be over this like a rash

OMO IBO:

It doesn't matter to you but it matters to America and his own almost-battered image.

Expect Faux news to be over this like a rash

Exactly!

smh, Chicago would bounce back

Obama didn't need to go there personally particularly when his job approval rating is very low and just hovering above 50%. The Chicago bid was the weakest in the lot and it didn't come to me as a surprise that it was eliminated in the 1st round. Everyone except the 'self deluding americans' knew it was gonna go to either Rio de janeiro or Madrid. The only thing the chicago bid had was the star power of Barack and Michelle but sadly that was not enough to take the day.
It's too bad the conservatives are painting it as a loss for Obama. Hell, they're even painting him as the weakest & most ineffective president in American history. Imagine Isreal openly defying America and the shelved plans in Eastern Europe.
These days, Obama irritates me so much I only want to know he's in the oval office but I don't want to hear him speak.

This stupid PDP mentality that's becoming prevalent will get us no where. Is the USA not inhabited by two legged human beings like those in other parts of the world. So because It's the US their below par preparation should be given consideration over Rio. The best prepared city won and to be honest south America deserve the 2016 oly.
Pele was dazzling the world long before Obama or Michelle were born so Let's forget that star power thing. If you notice, the IOC members are usually middle aged and Pele would appeal more to them than the Obama's who are Facebook/ Nairaland generation idols.

edoyad:

This stupid PDP mentality that's becoming prevalent will get us no where. Is the USA not inhabited by two legged human beings like those in other parts of the world. So because It's the US their below par preparation should be given consideration over Rio. The best prepared city won and to be honest south America deserve the 2016 oly.
Pele was dazzling the world long before Obama or Michelle were born so Let's forget that star power thing. If you notice, the IOC members are usually middle aged and Pele would appeal more to them than the Obama's who are Facebook/ Nairaland generation idols.

First off,Obama wasn't into the bid or never gave it any attention till very late on.
Even at that,I think he made a fool of himself because he thinks charisma can sway the IOC panel.I think the Obama novelty effect has worn off.
Blair was in the London bid almost from the start,and was involvedtill the very end.
He would chip in a word or two on the bid whnever he could on state visits.
Obama seemed aloof,and one can't really blamehim since he just got on board.
madrid came with Samaranchraul and others.Rio came with pele and President Lula who has also been involved with the bid.
chicago didn't bother to pick any serious athlete.michael Jordan couldn't be convinced (starting to doubt that guy's person).
Obama flying in at the last minute on a whistle stop visit wasn't gong to do much.

Whats the big freaking deal??U expected Chicago to win because Obama is president??

He is very lucky that all the TV networks and cable(with the exception of fox) are liberal .
Could you immagine how the media would have reported this news if George Bush were to be in the white house?
By the way,Obama failed because he made it about himself once again and not about America. I guess, he'll now learn
how to make a pitch for the nation and not make the whole thing look as if it revolves around him.

*shaking head*

edoyad:

This stupid PDP mentality that's becoming prevalent will get us no where. Is the USA not inhabited by two legged human beings like those in other parts of the world. So because It's the US their below par preparation should be given consideration over Rio. The best prepared city won and to be honest south America deserve the 2016 oly.
Pele was dazzling the world long before Obama or Michelle were born so Let's forget that star power thing. If you notice, the IOC members are usually middle aged and Pele would appeal more to them than the Obama's who are Facebook/ Nairaland generation idols.

either you did not watch the voting or you were not attentive or you are just a bit mischievous.
if you listened to OIC at the event, it was clearly stated that all the 4 cities were equally capable of successfully hosting the games. all the cities had equal chances of being voted. it had nothing to do with adequate/inadequate preparations. there are other reasons behind the vote. for example, the 2012 Olympic would be hosted in London, Europe just next door neighbours of Spain this puts Madrid in disadvantage; China just hosted the last games and put fellow Asian country japan in disadvantage; while Rio had a lot of sympathy because no south American country had hosted the games. these days sport bodies think it expedient to rotate hosting of games to among all the continents, that explains why the 2010 fifa world cup is viewed as "African, not necessarily 'South african'. that is what affected Chicago (USA).
Obama did what he was suppose to do. he couldn't afford to sit on the fence on issues like this. he is not a president that runs away from responsibility. it would be cawordice for him to be passive on something that americans are passionate about. If president Obama remained passive and Chicago losses the bid, then the whole world would be calling for his head because he did not give his support. now he die what is proper for his office and you are calling him fool? a failure? this is not Obama's personal failure, it is America's due to no fault of theirs. "winners never quit and quitters never win".
pls have a rethink.

fine i agree that d press will paint it as a huge loss for obama but i strongly disagree with d assertion that he should not have tried. wat Most people fail to understand is that d chicago bid was launched 4 yrs ago wen obama was just a senator and there was no way he wud stay away from supporting his home no matter d obstacles he faced. that wud have been cowardice. Afterall brazillian and spanish leaders were there too. commonn sense did point to rio since south america had neva hosted it b4 and the ioc wud not pass off the idea of a carnival flavoured games. Are u guys sayin Mcain or Hillary wud have succeded where obama failed if there were in power instead? All this means Chicago neva stood a chance. Abeg make una free d guy jo

@Yoji,
You 're SPOT ON ! Plus, the IOC has been having some problems witth the U.S. I heard.

IMO Obama will continue to come under attack by the GOP and all other opportunist waiting at every turn to dis-credict his government or policies for Obvious reasons anyway. Ofcourse by now He knows it so should be ready to shake-off all His detractors and distractions as well.

Obama didn't need to go there personally particularly when his job approval rating is very low and just hovering above 50%. The Chicago bid was the weakest in the lot and it didn't come to me as a surprise that it was eliminated in the 1st round. Everyone except the 'self deluding americans' knew it was gonna go to either Rio de janeiro or Madrid. The only thing the chicago bid had was the star power of Barack and Michelle but sadly that was not enough to take the day.
It's too bad the conservatives are painting it as a loss for Obama. Hell, they're even painting him as the weakest & most ineffective president in American history. Imagine Isreal openly defying America and the shelved plans in Eastern Europe.
These days, Obama irritates me so much I only want to know he's in the oval office but I don't want to hear him speak.

@Semid4lyfe
So what's really your point? that Conservatives dissaprove of him or that you also believe He is not doing well so should sit back in the oval office and not say a word, which kind president be that naa! Even Yar'adua sef dey talk Haba!

He would have had to contain with much more criticisms if he hadn't gone to copenhagen. . .yes chicago would have lost still. . .

[b][size=18pt]I don't know why the American press especially is  whipping up sentiments over Chicago's failed bid particularly as regards Barack Obama. I know some will say his charisma failed in swaying over IOC members just like it failed to stop North Korea from test firing her missiles alongside Iraq, Israel defying him, that his ratings are slipping @ home and now it has extended abroad. To all this, i say hmnnnnn   Yeah, he's president of America and not of the world.
Many have CONVENIENTLY developed amnesia to the fact that Japan's prime minister, Spain's president alongside her king [not forgetting the former IOC president, Juan Antonio Samaranch who's spanish] lobbied for their cities but failed to sway the IOC too. Immediately I saw Lula -Brazil's president say the IOC could no longer afford to ignore an entire continent i.e. South America, I knew other bid's not just Chicago's was in trouble. Economically, Rio had the best bid though i was shocked they went out in round 1. I agree Obama should have been more discreet before staking his political credit yet we fail to remember America is still looked @ with great dislike globally despite Obama's sales pitch of his nation no thanks to George Bush's solo imperialist agenda. Yet we must ask what groundwork had America's Olympics committee done before bringing in the Obama's and other prominent Chicagoans into the bid seeing they had the worst bid economically? Most of the bad press Obama's getting has to do with the state of affairs back home i.e. the economy and health care but we seem to have forgotten, GWB& the republican party left him this 'glorious' legacy. Let the man be, it's tough enough been a president, the American president @ that, not to add the extra burden of been a black man in a white America!

[/size][/b]

SHIT HAPPENS, YEAH SOMETIMES, AND TO EVERYONE

ITWS JUST HIS OWN 'SHIT' TURN.

It doesn't matter to you but it matters to America and his own almost-battered image.

Expect Faux news to be over this like a rash

Never heard so much rubbish in my life, people here are just ignorant about the whole situation its they are praying for him to fail, 1) Obama is not from Chicago, so Barrack joined at the very late stage to help swing the votes,

Didnt both the Clintons backed New Yok for the 2012 and lost, Did that make them a failure,

Didnt Jacque Chirac back the Paris bid for both 2008 and 2012 and lost did that make him less popular

One of the reason they didnt give it to Chicago is because Atalanta and LA have hosted in the last 2 decades and its never been to South America,

So if USA misses out on a World Cup bid I guess Obama should gear up for the electric chair!!!

Some people are gradually losing IT! That Chicago lost the olympic bid so what? can any of these NL castigating him tell me how that is Obama's fault and how that affects his presidency!!! Why are we chasing shadows here? Fine America lost, so did other countries that were bidding for it. there can only be one host country. Bad BELE people.

I didn't watch the bidding and all but how can that be humiliating? Ok,I'll just wait for Jon Stewart and hear what he has to say.

Obama should not be disappointed that the USA lost to brazil. I do know jesus would find it difficult to make the 2016 Olympic come the the USA because the USA was running against Brazil. Really there is no nation in the world that would beat brazil for 2016 Olympic ticket.

The reason is based on history. The profit of the Olympic game is most made from the soccer event or football like they call it all over the world. The Olympic is the second most important event in football or soccer. 90% of the other countries would rather win the Soccer gold medal than win 100 gold medal from other event.

And Brazil is the King of soccer. The Olympic would be more profitable to be host in Brazil than the USA because of the soccer event , that why the OIC made that decision.  Brazil have 100,000 capacity stadium . And the prize of a ticket in Brazil is going to be 5 times was they would sale a soccer ticket in USA. because there are crazy soccer fan in brazil.

USA citizen are not ready to throw thier wife from the door because of soccer match, but brazil is know for killing thier wife because of unplugging the television set during a soccer game. Sport to 90% of the world. Only means one word. And that is soccer.  Soccer= sport.

And Brazil is the king of soccer, that why the OIC did what they did, even Jesus would need a miracle to give it to chicago against the king of soccer , brazil.