2016 Olympic mascot? Make it so!
Everyone's second favorite Lake Michigan city, has moved one step closer to hosting the 2016 Olympics.
Chicago, much to the chagrin of everyone who lives there, is one of four finalists, along with Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid. Sadly, the journey ends for the cities of Prague, Doha (that's in Qatar) and the capital of Azerbajin (seriously.) Chernobyl, Beirut, and Youngstown, Ohio must have just missed the cut.
The real surprise might be how close Doha actually came to making the cut. Had they advanced, Qatar could have become the first Middle Eastern nation to host the games.
In the end, Doha was left out even though it tied for third with Chicago and was ahead of Rio in an IOC evaluation report assessing the overall technical merits of the bids.
The IOC said Doha's proposal to hold the Olympics in October, rather than July or August, to avoid the searing summer heat was the decisive factor.
The board "unanimously decided not to grant this exception as it conflicts with the international sporting calendar and would therefore be bad for the athletes and for sports fans," IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said. "It would disrupt athletes' training programs and overload the sports schedule at an already busy time of the year.
"Today the executive board felt it would be a disservice to Doha to take them into the next round."
As for Chicago, they'll find out what happens to their bid in October of 2009, when the IOC makes it's big announcement. If the Windy City does end up winning the bid, a word of advice. Keep this guy the hell away from the female gymnastics events.
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