On the Scene: IOC Members Comment on the Choice of Rio de Janeiro for 2016

IOC President Jacques Rogge displays the choice of his colleagues for the 2016 Olympics. (Getty Images) Anita DeFrantz, U.S.

DeFrantz, who was part of the U.S. presentation team, said that if she knew what was going through IOC members' minds, "We would have won. Each member is different. They come with their own experiences in life. I can tell you one thing: everyone wanted their picture taken with the President and First Lady. I'm so happy they came. I hope they don't feel badly. I'm sure they wanted to win, too. But they won. It was Chicago that didn't."

Asked if there was anything Chicago could have done differently, DeFrantz said, "I think we did everything we could. It was an extraordinary bid. It was well-formed. I'm so sorry we won't have the rowing course and the Village and the people of Chicago won't have had the experience of hosting the Games."

DeFrantz's reaction when IOC president Jacques Rogge said Chicago was the first bid eliminated: "I think shock would be a fair word. They had a strong bid. A lot of people were saying, 'Good job, great.' And of course, everyone wanted to be pictured with the president and the first lady. So I thought, 'OK, we've got enough momentum. But the first round is always the scariest round. I've seen it over and again that the first round will do something that nobody expects to have done.

"The bottom line has to be that the decision was made by enough of the members that they thought it would be nice to go to a different part of the world, that's what it was plain and simple.

Asked if the historic decision was similar to going to China, DeFrantz said, "That was a quarter of the population when you go to China."

Will Chicago bid again? "Next time everything changes. We don't know who else would be bidding. We don't know if Chicago would be the city. I kind of have to doubt that that piece of land will be available for the Village again.

Thomas Bach, Germany

IOC vice president Thomas Bach described Friday as a very good day for the Olympic Movement “because universality is a crucial element of the Olympic Games and now we have that.” Thomas Bach of Germany: “This is not a competition between statesmen. This is a competition about sport”. (ATR/Panasonic Lumix)

He said Chicago’s elimination in the first round was surprising but was not an anti-American or anti-USOC statement. Bach added that he hadn’t expected U.S. president Barack Obama’s presence in Copenhagen to be the deciding factor.

“This is not a competition between statesmen. This is a competition about sport,” Bach said.

The head of the German Olympic Sports Confederation said Rio was successful because it concentrated on its strengths in a very clear campaign and staged a good presentation. Bach said the Rio bid had drawn invaluable lessons from organizing the 2007 Pan American Games and its 2012 bid.

Gerhard Heiberg, Norway

Gerhard Heiberg, head of the IOC Marketing Commission, said he was sorry Chicago went out of the contest early but insisted the city’s dearth of votes was no reflection of a continued rift between the IOC and USOC. Heiberg was one of the IOC members involved in hammering out a revenue-sharing deal with the USOC in March this year.

“We are fine together and have a good dialogue so I am not worried about the future [relationship].”

Heiberg said the key factor in Rio’s favor was that South America had never hosted the Olympics before and the assurances given by President Lula in meetings with IOC officials on a number of occasions. “Rio did a great job. Their presentation gave a good picture of what will happen. I am glad it was [the margin of victory] was that clear.”

The IOC’s marketing chief insisted Rio would reach sponsorship targets for the Games two years after the FIFA 2014 World Cup. “I am not concerned it will cannibalise [sponsorship]. I don’t see any disadvantage,” he said.

“We feel a lot of Brazilian companies will be interested, and companies from abroad. It’s a market of 200 million people, I think that will go very well.”

Commenting on TV rights in the U.S. for the 2016 Olympics, Heiberg said the result of the IOC vote would have no impact on negotiations. “It is on the same time zone. I have spoken to several TV stations in the U.S. They wanted either Chicago or Rio.”

He told ATR negotiations had not started for TV rights in the U.S. and declined to put a timeframe on when they would be completed and an announcement made. “We are not in a hurry.”

Dick Pound, Canada

Pound told ATR he didn’t believe there was any anti-US sentiment impacting the voting for Chicago. “There was a feeling we need to make Rio happen and the only threat was Chicago. ‘Let’sdo what we can to make sure Chicago don’t get it’”.

He indicated that Chicago’s failure was maybe partly the result of members not knowing the city compared to the other three candidates. “I think probably Chicago suffered more that a whole bunch of IOC members couldn’t go there,” he added.

Pound dismissed the Obama factor: “This didn’t have anything to do with it. It was good for him to come but this is a sports deal.”

“Rio made a lot of friends and earned a lot of respect in the IOC,” he said, claiming it seemed the right time to take the Olympics to South America. “Brazil is doing better than it ever has economically and is stable politically although it has its problems.”

C.K. Wu, Taiwan

Wu said the Rio’s unique selling point – that the Olympics had never been to South America – was the winning factor for the Brazalian city of 6.2 million people.

Wu said he was shocked about Chicago’s failure. “Chicago have done a lot of work and tried to prove they were the ideal the city for the Games,” he said. Wu spoke with Barack Obama in the coffee break after Chicago’s presentation Friday; he met America’s First Lady Michelle on Wednesday. “She was very impressive,” he said, adding that both Obamas had performed well in Chicago’s pitch to the IOC.

“I don’t think this was anything anti-American because the Olympic Movement in the U.S. is very important for the Olympic Movement worldwide,” he said.

Richard Carrion, Puerto Rico

Carrion thought he had the vote figured out last week. "Now I know I know nothing about the IOC," he said. "I was very surprised by all the results. My thinking was that Tokyo would go out in the first round, but obviously Brazil carried the day. I wouldn't say it was a negative vote as much as it was a positive vote for Brazil and the idea of having Games in the Southern Hemisphere.

“I think that was the compelling case that they made. This is not the first time we are giving Games to cities that are also hosting the World Cup. This has happened in the United States. This has happened in Germany, in Mexico. In many ways this is something that hopefully will help focus the planning, the urban element of all that has to be done."

He said Madrid had a very good project. "I thought it was very gutsy of the mayor a few years to make the decision to go ahead and make another bid (after London won 2012," he said. "I said, 'This is an uphill fight.' He said, 'Yes, but we want you to know the fervor with which we want these Games.'"

Guy Drut, France Guy Drut of France says “Michelle Obama was the woman of the day.” (ATR/Panasonic Lumix)

“South America never had the Games before,” Drut said by way of explaining why Rio won the Games. He insisted the message from Rio coming from former sportsmen like Carlos Nuzman had helped the bid significantly through the campaign and in a good final presentation. The commitment that all levels of government in Brazil were working hand-in-hand was another key factor, he added.

Drut believes the decision marks a new era for the Olympic Movement. “It should be a beginning… after China, and maybe next but not in four years we can hold something in Africa.”

On Chicago’s exit: “It is a surprise but it’s not an insult [to the U.S.],” he said. “Michelle Obama was the woman of the day.”

Leo Wallner, Austria

Wallner says the Obamas maybe created too much attention for the Chicago bid, noting the security that was required to accommodate the U.S. President and First Lady. “IOC members did not like waiting for 45 minutes outside her door to meet her,” he added.

Ugur Erdener, Turkey

Erdener was surprised that Chicago was rejected by IOC members in the first round of voting. “Rio have a very good argument; there was never any Olympics in South America. They used this factor very successfully.”

Ser Miang, Singapore

“We are opening up the Games to a new continent and it will create new opportunities. I think they will do a good job,” he said. Ser said he didn’t think there was any anti-American feeling that influenced the voting, adding that the IOC’s disputes with the USOC over TV revenues or Olympic TV Network were not key factors.

Gunilla Lindberg, Sweden

Ser Miang of Singapore: “We are opening up the Games to a new continent and it will create new opportunities”. (ATR/Panasonic Lumix) "Timing is important," Lindberg said, "and for Madrid, it was not the right time." She bid for the Olympic Games in 1994 with Ostersund and reached the final with Lillehammer, which won the Games. "We continued to bid [in 1998 and 2002] and should have taken time out," she said.

Although Nawal El Moutawakel, chair of the IOC Evaluation Commission, has said there is no geographical rotation, Lindberg said, "It's not in the [IOC] Charter. But it seems that way."

Lindberg said she thought it was good that President and Mrs. Obama came to the Session. "It shows respect for the Olympic Movement," she said.

If Obama felt the trip was not worth his time, Lindberg added, "If he feels that, it's very sad. I think his presence meant a lot here to the Olympic Movement. The U.S. should not take this negatively, they should try again."

But she said the IOC must vote for the sports plan and not be swayed only by political leaders. "If we only vote for for countries with very important politicians, there are very few countries who can host the Games."

She does not think Chicago's ejection in the first round showed anti-U.S. sentiment. "I think it was more it's not the right time. Chicago's a wonderful city and I hope they come back.”

With reporting from Mark Bisson and Karen Rosen