Obama upset after Chicago lost 2016 Olympics bid - White House
MOSCOW. October 3. KAZINFORM U.S. President Barack Obama is disappointed after Chicago failed to win the right for hosting the 2016 Olympic Games, a spokesman for the White House said, Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.
Rio de Janeiro was named the host city for the 2016 Olympic Summer Games on Friday after the International Olympic Committee vote in Copenhagen. Rio, which faced stiff competition from Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo, becomes the first South American city to be awarded the games.
"Obviously I think the President is disappointed, as you might imagine. I think he continues to believe, and we heard this from a number of people, that Chicago had a very strong if not the best bid," Robert Gibbs told the journalists aboard the U.S. Air Force One en route from Denmark to the United States.
Chicago, whose bid was backed in person by U.S. President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, was the first city to fall by the wayside in the IOC vote.
Meanwhile, residents of Brazil's second largest city streamed out of their offices and homes to celebrate the news on world famous beaches such as Copacabana and Ipanema.
At the final presentations prior to the vote on Friday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva threw his weight behind the city's bid, Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.en.rian.ru for full version.