And Then There Were Two ...

By Todd McClamroch in News on Nov 13, 2006 11:01PM

Our colleagues over at SFist are saying arrivederci to the 2016 Olympics. This afternoon, the San Francisco Olympic Committee formally withdrew its bid for the 2016 Summer Games. Last week, the surprise announcement that the San Francisco 49ers were looking outside of San Francisco for a new stadium brought up concerns about the bid. A major concern for the Bay Area's bid has always been the lack of an Olympic Stadium.

With this announcement, there are now two U.S. cities vying for the 2016 Olympics — Los Angeles and Chicago. The United States Olympic Committee is evaluating both and by next April is expected to decide whether either is worthy of being nominated for the United States. The United States Olympic Committee released a statement today stating "Our evaluation process will now continue with two cities — Chicago and Los Angeles — as we work to find the one U.S. city that has the best opportunity to compete in the international race. Chicago and Los Angeles are dynamic cities, each with its own distinct vision for hosting the athletes of the world."

If Chicago or L.A. is selected they will likely compete with Madrid, Rio De Janeiro and Tokyo for the 2016 games. Though with the 2008 games going to Beijing and the 2012 games going to London, we feel European and Asian cities might be at a disadvantage in 2016. Rio De Janeiro's bid is considered by many to be shaky due to concerns about the city's ability to prepare the infrastructure for the games. Which means that either Chicago or Los Angeles has a strong shot at winning the 2016 Olympic bid. The International Olympic Committee is due to make their selection in the fall of 2009.