Obama surprises rally-goers at Chicago Olympic celebration

By DEANNA BELLANDI | Associated Press Writer

6:58 PM EDT, June 6, 2008

CHICAGO - Fresh off finding out it's a finalist to host the 2016 Summer Games, Chicago whipped up enthusiasm for its Olympic bid by having Barack Obama as a surprise guest at a Friday rally.

But city organizers still have work to do if they want to bring the games here after a recent assessment by the International Olympic Committee identified issues with finances, transportation and other matters.

Organizers say they feel confident they will be able to address the issues the IOC raised regarding its bid so far. The IOC has questioned the money listed for highway and transit projects; said budgets appeared "low and may warrant review" for sports venue construction; and wanted more detail about the plans for transportation between venues.

"We'll certainly be able to provide them the level of detail where they'll be as comfortable with our plan as we are," said Chicago 2016 organizing committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky.

But the focus Friday was on celebrating Chicago's latest victory in its quest for the games and leveraging Obama's star power, one of the most high-profile supporters of the city's bid.

The IOC selected Chicago this week as one of four finalists for the 2016 Games. The other cities are Tokyo; Madrid, Spain; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Three other cities were eliminated from contention. The IOC will name the winning host city in October 2009.

Tokyo scored highest in the technical evaluation, followed by Madrid, Chicago and Rio.

If Obama is elected president, he could be a major asset for the city's bid. On Friday he predicted both he and the city would be victorious in their respective contests.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee boasted he would be winding up his second term as president when Chicago opens the 2016 Games at a new Olympic stadium in Washington Park on the South Side just blocks from his home.

"So I can't think of a better way than to be marching into Washington Park ... as president of the United States and announcing to the world, 'Let the games begin,"' he said to thundering applause from a lunchtime crowd gathered in a downtown plaza.

Chicago hasn't been shy about relying on Obama's high-profile support to pump up its bid. A videotaped message from Obama greeted a U.S. Olympic Committee evaluation team when they came to the city last year and Obama attended a rally in the same downtown plaza when Chicago was picked to be the American bidder for the games.

Mayor Richard Daley knows the international contest to eventually be named host city won't be an easy, telling the crowd Chicago faces "tough competition" from the three other cities.

"But I think what we have here is basically a spirit -- a spirit about the Olympic movement, a spirit about Chicago, a spirit about (the) United States of America," an ebullient Daley told the crowd.

Daley is counting on continued backing from Obama, saying the Illinois senator knows about tough competition too. Obama bested Hillary Rodham Clinton in a hard-fought Democratic presidential primary.

The IOC has said presidents and other leaders from the four bid cities are welcome to attend when the IOC votes to pick a host city at its 2009 meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark.

"Bringing the Olympics to Chicago will be a capstone of the success that we've had over the last couple of decades in transforming Chicago to become not just a great American city but a great world city," Obama said.