chicagotribune.com

Rio's mayor: Pan Am Games an Olympics test

Maia, Daley see their cities as top contenders for 2016

RIO DE JANEIRO—The mayor of Rio said today that he would urge his city's bid committee to abandon its pursuit of the 2016 Olympics if it botches the hosting of the Pan American Games this week.

Mayor Cesar Maia said he agrees with analysts that consider Rio and Chicago the top two competitors for the Summer Olympics. Maia hosted Mayor Richard Daley and his wife, Maggie, at a breakfast Thursday morning at the Palacio da Cidade, an ornate former embassy that now serves as the municipal palace.

Daley and members of the Chicago 2016 group are in Rio this week to observe the Pan American Games, a regional athletic competition held every four years that includes about 5,600 athletes.

"The Pan American Games are a defining test for us," Maia told the Tribune in an interview.

Maia said he thinks Chicago has some advantages over Rio—a well-developed infrastructure and stable political leadership thanks to Daley's 18 years in office. But Maia, a former economist, said he thinks Rio has its own advantages, including a wish by the International Olympic Committee to award the Games to South America for the first time.

Maia also thinks the IOC would embrace the chance to give the Games to a city that could use it as a catalyst to tackle social problems, such as crime and poverty. Maia said the Pan Am Games alone will create about 100,000 jobs.

"The Olympics, for us, represents an element of human, economic and social development," he said.

Maia also said he thinks Rio benefits from having presented Olympic bids before, noting that most successful cities have already gone through the process. In fact, one purpose of the Chicago delegation's visit is to observe a large-scale international sports event to better tailor its bid.

The IOC plans to select the host of the 2016 Games in October 2009. In addition to Chicago and Rio, the IOC has identified Madrid, Tokyo, Doha, Qatar; and Baku, Azerbaijan, as bidders.

Rio has until Sept. 13 to submit a formal bid, with Maia leaving the door open depending on what happens with the Pan American Games. He said that the Pan Am Games projects, including new sports facilities and a renovated international airport, were pursued with a potential Olympics in mind.

Daley and Maia said they avoided talk of the upcoming competition at their breakfast, focusing on crime, the environment and other issues.

Daley has avoided handicapping the other potential bidders but nodded when Maia referred to Chicago and Rio as the top two candidates. Daley gave Maia a framed program of Chicago's hosting of the Pan American Games in 1959, and a picture of his father, Mayor Richard J. Daley, at the event at Soldier Field.

Daley, however, dismissed talk of Rio as Chicago's "rival."

"We're competitors," Daley said. "Both of us love our cities. It is a very competitive process for 2016. This is a very competitive city."

Maia floated an unusual idea, saying that his government is "negotiating" with officials in Madrid to have the Spanish city withdraw its bid and throw its support behind Rio in a united "Latin" bid. Maia said Madrid's chances are slim because London is hosting the 2012 Summer Olympics and Sochi, Russia, is hosting the 2014 Winter Games.

Madrid, however, has pursued the Olympics before and given no indication that it is reconsidering its bid.