Local Olympians back bid
The prospect of competing in front of a hometown crowd has local Olympians and athletes
enthusiastically rooting for Chicago when the host city for the 2016 Olympic Summer Games is announced shortly before noon today.
"I am 100 percent behind Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympic Summer Games and have been since they began discussing the topic two-plus years ago," said Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns in an e-mail this week from Colorado, where he was working his "other" job as senior director of development for U.S. Figure Skating. Burns previously worked six years for the U.S. Olympic Committee and three years for the U.S. Equestrian Association, with equestrian events being a key component on the Summer Games, so his Olympic ties are strong.
"I've served on the Chicago 2016 Regional Coordinating Committee for two-plus years and have done my level best to educate, motivate and inspire my colleagues throughout the suburbs that the Olympic Games in 2016 are more than 16 days of competition," Burns added. "It's a half-decade of unprecedented economic stimulus for the region and a legacy of enhancements to our culture and communities for generations to come."
For local athletes who could be Olympic team members in 2016, a Chicago Olympics would be a chance to compete in front of the hometown crowd.
"Something about playing a huge event like the Olympics in front of an all-American support group is something I don't get to experience very much," said Andy Hein, 25, of Carol Stream, a member of the U.S. Men's National Volleyball team who is on track to play in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.
The athletes say they'd also get more media and fan exposure if the games were in the U.S., compared to a foreign destination. As an added bonus, it'd also be more economical for family and friends to come watch them compete, and no time zone adjustment or dietary changes to affect their game.
"Chicago's such a great city," said Mary DeScenza Mohler, 25, a Naperville native and member of the U.S. National Swim Team. "It's nice to have it in the U.S., to have the fans just backing you. You get into other countries and they're not always the biggest U.S. fans."
The allure of traveling to an exotic locale holds little appeal to the athletes, most of whom have already traveled a lot for world competitions.
"I just got back from eight days in Brazil, playing the Brazilian National Team," Hein said. "I'd rather play in Chicago. It would be amazing on so many levels to have it here. Just to have it in the U.S. would be awesome."