Bidding for the Games -- News from 2016

Chicago Stakes Claim to Fund Raising Championship

"Chicago Believes" was the theme for the bid's July 14 event. (Chicago 2016)A fund raising dinner for Chicago 2016 July 14 would appear to put Chicago bid in the lead for private financing among the four cities in the race for the Games.

Chicago 2016 says $12 million was raised from the event held at the downtown Millennium Park.

An elite group of 100 donors provided $100,000 each or contributed $1 million in services for the dinner, allowing them to sit at tables. Other donors paid $500 to mingle with the crowds at the park.

The haul from the event is reported to put Chicago’s fund raising for the bid at the $35 million mark, following pledges received from the private sector last year during the early stage of the bid.

None of the other bid cities have reported private fund raising at a similar level.

Chicago organizers hope to raise about $82 million for the bid, with most of the money to go for the international campaign. The rest goes to World Sport Chicago, an organization established to promote and stage events in the Olympic sports.

Rio de Janeiro Celebrates Pan American Anniversary

One year after the opening of the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, organizers present the 600-page report on the games. They regard the 2007 Pan Ams as proof of the city’s capacity to hold the 2016 Olympics. Carlos Nuzman and colleagues with the report of the 2007 Pan American Games. (COB)

"We carried out an edition of the Pan American Games with Olympic standards," Carlos Arthur Nuzman, president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee, claims in a statement.

"As we celebrate the first anniversary of the Pan American Games, we already have another commitment - Rio’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. We are warriors, we are aware of the reality, but we do think Rio de Janeiro deserves to receive the 2016 Games," he said.

While the 2007 Pan American Games were generally well-regarded, the sports of baseball and softball struggled with sub-standard venues.

Those travails as well as the successes of the games are documented in the report, which is part of a Rio 2007 collection in the library of the Brazilian NOC.

Also unveiled at the anniversary ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, "Rio 2007 – Live this Energy", a 224-page book capturing the event in text and photos.

New Venue Designs for Madrid

Madrid 2016 presents new design proposals for five venues.

The new designs are for rowing, Olympic pavilion, velodrome, field hockey and shooting. All are planned as permanent competition venues.

They were selected after an architectural competition organized by the City The design for the velodrome planned in the Madrid bid. (Madrid 16)Council of Madrid and the Architects Association of Madrid.

The $102 million Olympic pavilion is the largest of the five new-look venues. Located a few meters away from the main stadium, the 12,000 capacity venue would host the artistic and trampoline gymnastics competitions.

The winning designs are:

Olympic pavilion- "Por la Mano" ("By the Hand"), by Manuel García Paredes and Fernando Pino

Rowing: "Madrid deja huella" ("Madrid Leaves Its Footprint"), by Laura Espejo and Jesús Susperregui

Velodrome - "Recyclo", by Jean Boca Beille

Field hockey - "Madrid en Cinta", by Rubén Picado and María José de Blas

Shooting - "Dermis Terrae", by Beatriz López Viedma and David Lubián

Meanwhile, Mercedes Coghen, CEO of Madrid 2016, receives the Gold Master of the High Direction’s Forum in recognition of her work spearheading the Olympic bid.

"It not only recognizes the work of a person, but of a whole Olympic bid, that is in the hands of professionals which works hard each day to achieve a common objective, the Games for 2016", she said after being honored at the Duque de Pastrana’s palace in Madrid.

Tokyo Welcomes Athletes for Beijing Training Camps

Tokyo 2016 says the bid is benefiting from 30 national Olympic committees choosing Japanese training bases for their athletes participating in the Beijing Games. Japanese Olympians at Juntendo University this week. (Tokyo 2016)

More than 750 Olympians and Paralympians are holding their final training camps in Tokyo and other Japanese cities in the build-up to the Olympics.

The Tokyo bid says "this reflects the world-class Olympic facilities and infrastructure available to visiting Olympians and officials".

Under its 2016 bid plans, new sports venues would be developed around iconic city features, complementing existing facilities and playing a central role in a massive urban and environmental transformation of Tokyo.

Last week, Tokyo hosted a ceremony to celebrate athletes who will compete in the Beijing Games.

At Juntendo University, huge crowds cheered seven athletes including Hiroyuki Tomita, gold medalist in gymnastics at Athens 2004 and an athlete ambassador for Tokyo 2016.

Daichi Suzuki, swimming gold medalist at Seoul 1988 and a vice chair of the Athletes’ Commission of Tokyo 2016, offered words of encouragement for the athletes representing Japan in next month's Games.

Written by Ed Hula and Mark Bisson

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