Chicago 2016's secret Olympic weapon: Oprah

Each of the four cities in the running to host the 2016 Olympics has something unique going for it.

Madrid has its collection of art museums. Rio de Janeiro has music and night life. Tokyo offers internationally acclaimed cuisine.

And Chicago? Well, we got Oprah, our own secret weapon.

Oprah Winfrey did her part Wednesday to bring the Olympics to Chicago by welcoming roughly 175 athletes from the recently ended summer games in Beijing to Millennium Park for a taping of the season premiere of her talk show.

An estimated 6,000 delirious fans crowded into the Pritzker Pavilion and the adjacent lawn to get a glimpse of Winfrey and the athletes. It was the first time Oprah had ever taped in Millennium Park, a Harpo Studios spokeswoman said. The event served as both a celebration of Team USA's accomplishments at this year's games and a showcase for the city that Winfrey calls home.

"Welcome from magnificent Millennium Park in the heart of my town, Chicago!" Winfrey called out at the start of show.

The athletes ran through the crowd, high-fiving fans along the way, to get to the pavilion stage adorned with American flags and red, white and blue banners that said "Team USA," "Believe," "Dream" and "Achieve." The group included such heavy-hitters as swimmer Michael Phelps, who received a superhero's welcome, beach volleyball duo Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh and members of this year's basketball Dream Team, including Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade.

Winfrey, wearing a navy blue suit with a red belt, worked her trademark magic on the crowd, whipping her adoring fans into a frenzy of screams and applause every chance she could.

"Thousands of proud Americans are here for three great reasons: Gold, silver and bronze!!!!" Winfrey said, practically singing out the last three words.

The crowd went nuts.

Tears and ovations were repeated and multiplied as Winfrey showed clips of some of the most dramatic moments of the Beijing games - including the women's track team winning the 4x400 relay, swimmer Dara Torres winning silver, gold-medal winner Shawn Johnson doing one of her balance routines and, of course, Phelps' stunning march toward eight gold medals.

Winfrey asked Phelps whether standing on the podium and hearing "The Star Spangled Banner" ever got old.

"No," Phelps said. "The other athletes on this stage will tell you also that it's the greatest feeling in the world."

May-Treanor and Walsh handed Winfrey a volleyball during their interview, and May-Treanor suggested that Winfrey meet them at Oak Street Beach for a match.

"This ball is going in my office," Winfrey said.

Bryant and the other Dream Team members said they were happy to regain the gold after a disappointing performance four years ago in Athens. Winfrey asked them what it was like to have people from all over the world call out their names on the streets of Beijing.

"That was just a Kobe problem," Jason Kidd joked.

Winfrey also paid tribute to the women's basketball team - which brought home the gold and included Naperville Central product Candace Parker - the gold-winning men's volleyball team and the women's gymnastics squad, which included 4-foot-9 star Shawn Johnson.

Winfrey wasn't the only one excited about the possibility of a Chicago Olympics. Chicago Bandits pitcher Jennie Finch, the star pitcher for the silver-winning women's Olympics softball team, also gave the city a shout-out.

"We need to bring softball back in 2016, and what better place to do it than in Chicago?" Finch said, alluding to the fact that softball has been dropped from the 2012 games in London.

The season premiere of "The Oprah Winfrey" show will air on Monday. It marks the beginning of the program's 23rd year on television.

At the end of the taping, Winfrey teased Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, who sat in the audience, for never having attended a broadcast in the previous 22 years. She thanked the athletes and made one final mention of Chicago's Olympic bid.

"Thanks also to a great city, my kind of town, Chicago!" she said. "I hope you get a chance to see more of it in 2016!"

Arlington Heights resident and hard core Oprah disciple Sheila Landry watched the taping with some college friends from the lawn, occasionally holding up a "Chicago 2016" sign. How did she like the show?

"It was so amazing!" Landry said. "Oprah is incredible, and those athletes are really incredible too. We're so lucky to have someone like that here in Chicago."

The host city of the 2016 games will be decided in October of 2009.