Chicago Throws in a Little Education for the Olympic Bid

By Timmy Watson in News on Apr 14, 2007 6:57PM

It's a perpetual high jump folks, and Chicago just asked for a few more inches on the bar. Apologies for the lackluster play on words, but every other possible pun has been used. Today at 3 p.m. the United States Olympic Committee will finally announce their choice. We will provide an update when the announcement takes place, but the USOC heard Chicago's final bid this morning and there were a couple of surprises.

The major new initiative involved a group of colleges in the area, the group plans to provide 120 years worth of scholarships to participants in the 2016 games, that is, if they are in Chicago. The scholarships will provide assistance to athletes who have undoubtedly lost many a schooling hours practicing on the pommel horse at 4 a.m. every day, since they could walk.

As it's almost entirely about the money, Chicago also introduced another $500 million financial guarantee against unforseen costs. The guarantee will be provided by a yet to be named insurance company. That brings the city's guarantee total to $1.15 billion. L.A., who was to give their final bid second, was also expected to indicated additional guarantees.

As we mentioned, as soon as the announcement is made we will provide and update. The final decision by the International Olympic Committee will be given in October 2009.