Former Illini weigh in on Chicago's failed Olympic bid

Jeff Huth caught up with several former Illini with Olympic ties to discuss Friday's announcement awarding the 2016 Games to Rio

JUSTIN SPRING
Illini men's gymnastics coach and member of the 2008 U.S. men's Olympic gymnastics team which won a bronze medal.

His reaction:
 "Speechless. I think everyone thought that we were a shoe-in for at least the finals. I'm totally blown away that we were one of the first eliminated."

Why did Chicago not get it?
"I think the logistics had a lot to do with it. The fact that the entire northeast part of Chicago is a lake and they were worried about transportation because that is always such a problem. And then another way to try to figure out how to run athletes up and down from St. Louis - even through Champaign - for training venues.
"Chicago is just such a heavy-populated area, I think they were really worried about fitting everything in."

Still, he wasn't skeptical about Chicago's chances:
 "Because I think we still had things to offset those worries and I thought we were going to be able to do it. I guess not. It's pretty disappointing.

CRAIG VIRGIN
Former Illini distance runner and member of 1976 and 1984 U.S. men's Olympic track and field team. Also a member of the 1980 team that boycotted the Moscow Olympics.

His reaction: He was among those standing in Daley Plaza in Chicago waiting for the announcement. Huth reached him on his cell phone.

When the announcement was made: "You could hear a pin drop here in Daley Plaza. It was almost like people said, 'I didn't hear what he just said. It was like, 'This has got to be a mistake.' "

"I just am thunderstruck. I'm frustrated. I'm disappointed. You could just cut my heart out and put it on a platter right now."

"I was involved in the Atlanta bid in '88, '89 and '90. And Chicago's bid for the 2016 Games in many respects was better than that bid.. ... I've got enough behind-the-scenes (knowledge) up here to know that this bid was even better than what Atlanta did."

"I was prepared to lose, but not in the first round. I expected Tokyo to go in the first round. I thought we would be in the final round against Rio, and I didn't know how it was going to go after that. I thought it could go either way."

"I think that to be eliminated in the first round, it's politics. People do not realize how much damage was done in the prior eight years by the past administration in terms of international relations. To be eliminated in the first round, with the quality of the bid that we had made a statement. Pure and simple, it was a kick in the shins from the international community to the U.S. saying 'Don't be so cocky. You rubbed our noses in it the last eight years and you're pretty arrogant. And even though there's a new president and he's only had not even a full year in office, it was too much damage to undo in just one year.
 
Another factor in Virgin's :opinion "We were the first city that they visited for the bid and they visited Chicago the last week or two of March, and I believe that that didn't help u. It would have been better if we were the third or fourth city they visited from a weather standpoint and for them to see what the Olympic Games would have been like in July and  August in 2016. Chicago's not the most beautiful city to visit in March."

"I hope Chicago will keep the iron in the fire and bid again in four years."

MIKE DURKIN
Former Illini distance runner and member of 1976 U.S. men's Olympic track and field team.

Reaction: "I'm taken aback by the fact that we didn't make the final two. Not making it past the first round was never anticipated."

He is a lawyer and learned the news after coming out of a conference call to get some paperwork, and someone in his office told him Chicago hadn't made it out of the first round..
"I was somewhat stunned. I thought that's impossible. But it's obviously a fact."

What went wrong? He cites the influence of Juan Antonio Samaranch, the former president of the IOC from 1980 to 2001 and a native of Barcelona, Spain.

"The way Madrid is doing right now, I would have to say a lot of that has to be attributed to Juan Antonio Samaranch. ... He has a lot of chips that he's calling in, probably."

Lives in Elmwood Park, a few blocks outside Chicago city limits.

As a resident, his thoughts on Olympic impact on Chicago.
"I thought it would have had a positive influence on the city. There's a lot of (new) infrastructure (built for the Olympics) that would have survived the Games and would have benefited the city., The additional tourism would have helped many of the local businesses."

NANCY THIES MARSHALL
Urbana native and member of 1972 U.S. Olympic women's gymnstics team; now living in Oregon; She also has served as an TV commentator on past network Olympic telecasts of gymnastics. (these comments came via e-mail to Huth, if that needs to be pointed out, rather than direct interview).
Reaction: "As an Olympian from Illinois whose first competitions were at (Chicago's) Navy Pier - as a 11 year old - I am very, very sad.  I was so proud of the Chicago bid ... and for the people of Chicago who worked so hard
make such a compelling presentation.  There is no doubt in my mind that Chicago would be a unique and perfect host to the Games.

Why did Chicago not get it?
"The optimist in me is remembering the Athens bid for the 1996 games. They lost that bid but hosted the 2004 Games.  Sometimes it takes laying the groundwork in one bid to be the winner down the road."

Other thoughts? (like Durkin, she mentions Samarach)
"As someone who has had involvement with the Olympic movement for many years, I am not surprised at the outcome. There is so much at play in the minds and votes of each IOC member.  The first round of voting can be so
scary because of the potential for voters to vote for their continent, almost as an obligation - knowing they can vote for their favorite in subsequent rounds.  That can (and did) have the potential to knock out a
front runner.
"I also wonder if Juan Antonio Samaranch's influence wasunderestimated. If nothing else, Madrid may have gotten those "sympathy" votes in the first round that took the support away from Chicago."

TONJA BUFORD-BAILEY
Current Illini women's track and field coach; former Illini All-America track athlete and three-time U.S. Olympian (1992, 1996, 2000)

Reaction:

"Of course I'm disappointed. It would have been nice to have the Olympics really close."

Why did Chicago get bypassed?

"I was hearing things about maybe it was a venue situation, but I'm really not sure. The Olympics in Atlanta had the track stadium either torn down or turned into a baseball facility or something. So I don't know if they're looking for places where they can keep these structures as historical structures."

"I saw protesting going on recently in Chicago  I don't know if that had any part to play in it. ... But the Olympics is a great event to have in a city. It brings jobs and opportunities for new infrastructure. (I'm) just thinking about the many tracks that could have possibly been built in the city, that the Olympics would have brought to the city."

On speculation that UI facilities, including the track, might have been used as Olympic training sites:

"That would have been wonderful. .. They possibly could have done maybe a training center here. But that would have been pretty far from (Chicago) so I don't know about that. Every other Olympics I've been to, I think the farthest away was probably 30 minutes. ... My guess would be that probably would have been one of the down sides if the other cities had (training) venues that were closer."

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