“”In every competition, there can only be one winner,”” said
Friday’s announcement dashes the hopes of U.S. boosters — President
Word came from the IOC as the president and first lady
Their rival in the campaign, Brazilian President
“”The opportunity now is to expand the Games to new continents,”” Lula told the panel in his presentation. “”Light the caldron in a tropical country, in the most beautiful of cities. Send a powerful message to the world that the Olympic Games belong to all people, all continents, and to all humanity.””
But the emotional appeals from the Obamas fell on deaf ears in the European-dominated IOC.
The IOC’s last two experiences in
U.S. officials in
In the final days of the campaign,
When Obama himself decided to go, it seemed like the wind was behind the U.S. bid. No one has better vote-counters than the president, and political wisdom held that he wouldn’t stick his neck out if there weren’t a very good chance of a win.
In the wake of the announcement Friday, though, his top aides were at a loss for answers.
“”I’m sure there will be quite a bit of postmortems done on this,”” said
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(c) 2009, Tribune Newspapers.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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GRAPHIC (from MCT Graphics, 202-383-6064): 20091002 OLY Host 2016