COPENHAGEN -- Chicago was expected to be one of the last two cities in the race. Instead, it was the first to go.
In the end, Rio de Janeiro was eventually awarded the Olympics Games ahead of Madrid and Tokyo.
In one of the biggest upsets in International Olympic Committee voting history, Chicago was eliminated in the first ballot of voting for the 2016 Olympics on Friday. Not even the presence of President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama -- nor a long list of celebrities -- was enough to help the United States' third-largest city.
"It just wasn't our day to win," said Pat Ryan, chairman of Chicago's organizing committee. "That's just the way it goes. Some days you win, some days you don't."
This was one of the strongest, most united bids the United States had ever submitted, and it had full government support -- all the way to the White House. The Obamas' home is just a few steps away from where Chicago organizers had planned to put the stadium, and they were longtime supporters of the plan.
Obama was the first sitting president to lobby in person at a bid city vote, taking time out from the health care debate and flying overnight. He arrived less than an hour before Chicago's presentation, and made an emotional plea for his adopted hometown, saying the United States is at its best when it opens its arms to the world.
Michelle Obama did one better, spending two days meeting IOC members one-on-one. Many seemed charmed by her, and her personal stake in the games as a woman who grew up on Chicago's South Side.
"They (Obamas) were well received, they were welcomed. That's what's stunned me," senior Australian IOC member Kevan Gosper said. "There is no evidence other than a positive reaction to their presence. The whole thing doesn't make sense other there has been a stupid bloc vote."
Though Ryan had cautioned about the danger of the first round, few expected the American city to end up anywhere but in the finals. Indeed, oddsmakers had listed them as favorites as late as Friday morning. Back in Chicago, where residents had gathered at Daley Plaza, an audible gasp went up from the crowd when Chicago's stunning dismissal was announced.
Mayor Richard M. Daley, who had made the games his pet project, didn't even make it to the Bella Center. On his way, he turned around when he heard the news and went to meet with a few hundred Chicago supporters who had traveled to Copenhagen.
U.S. Olympic Committee chairman Larry Probst and acting CEO Stephanie Streeter were stone-faced as they walked down a hallway after the vote, on their way to join Chicago's bid leaders.
"We were taken by surprise," Streeter said. "We're disappointed."
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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