IOC does Chicago a favor

Chicago has been spared the cost overruns and civic distractions likely from getting the 2016 Olympics.

 

The AP story notes that this may be due to recent problems:  “The IOC's last two experiences in the United States were marred by controversy: the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics were sullied by a bribery scandal and logistical problems and a bombing hit the 1996 Games in Atlanta.”

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091002/ap_on_sp_ol/oly2016_bids_32

 

A skeptic might wonder if the likelihood of another bribe investigation if the games were given to the US might be one factor in awarding the games somewhere else. There didn’t seem to be much likelihood that Salt Lake City was the only Olympic bidder that ever bribed the IOC. Do they do bribe investigations in Brazil?

 

There’s also the history of the 1976 Denver Olympics to remember, which Wikipedia does: “The games were originally awarded to Denver, Colorado, United States in May, 1970 but a 300 percent rise in costs and worries about environmental impact led to voters' rejection of a $5 million bond issue to finance the games in 1972.” The games returned to Austria instead, where they had been held 12 years earlier so the venues were already available.