No Games Goes to Denmark

By Kevin Robinson in News on Oct 1, 2009 2:00PM

Barrack, Michelle, and The Big O aren't the only Chicagoans in Denmark for the big IOC love-in this week. According to a press release from No Games Chicago, a "delegation of Martin Macias, Jr., Tom Tresser and Rhoda Whitehorse" are in Copenhagen to "deliver our message on behalf of the people of Chicago that we do not want the 2016 Olympics."

The No Games delegation, while not likely to get in front of IOC delegates that will be voting on which city will get to host the 2016 Summer Games, have managed to get some press. "In the face of this overwhelming firepower in favor of the Chicago bid, it's a little intimidating to be arguing against it," Tresser told the Wall Street Journal in a phone interview from Denmark.

And while opponents of Chicago's bid to host the Olympics have generally been better received, dissenters in other cities haven't fared as well. The Wall Street Journal article mentions Dr. Chris Shaw, a professor of ophthalmology at the University of British Columbia, who opposed Vancouver's bid to host next year's Winter Games. Dr. Shaw noted that local Olympic supporters "even suggested that I hated little kittens." Nevertheless, Dr. Shaw's concerns that hosting the games would cost more than projected, and subject residents to financial obligations beyond what private donations would cover came true last winter, when the costs of the Olympic Village blew up.