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SALT LAKE CITY -- On Friday, the International Olympic Committee announced Rio de Janeiro will host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. That simple announcement sent a wave of shocked silence from Copenhagen to Chicago, quickly ending the Windy City's hopes to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Rio is the first city in South America to ever be awarded the Games. Folks in Salt Lake can relate to both experiences.
Salt Lake knows the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. It was a long road to February of 2002, when the opening ceremonies were held here.
It wasn't until its fifth try that Salt Lake won. Mike Korologos, the former spokesman for Salt Lake's Olympic bid team, has an impressive collection of vintage memorabilia, including a pair of never-before-seen memos expressing disappointment in case they lost the 2002 bid; one for then-chief Tom Welch, one for the governor. The memos turned out to be unnecessary.
The city of Chicago, having obtained the least number of votes, will not participate in the next round.
–Jacques Rogge, IOC president
Salt Lake had lost four previous times including, narrowly, four years earlier to Nagano, Japan.
Then in 1995, at the bid event in Budapest, Utah organizers thought they might lose again when the IOC president began to speak.
| Year | Location | Season |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Atlanta | Summer |
| 1998 | Nagano | Winter |
| 2000 | Sydney | Summer |
| 2002 | Salt Lake City | Winter |
| 2004 | Athens | Summer |
| 2006 | Turin | Winter |
| 2008 | Beijing | Summer |
| 2010 | Vancouver | Winter |
| 2012 | London | Summer |
| 2014 | Sochi, Russia | Winter |
| 2016 | Rio de Janeiro | Summer |
He said Utahns could surely relate to the emotions of Chicagoans and Brazilians.
Korologo said, It's worth it. It's worth it. The Olympics make your city a world-class city."
E-mail: jdaley@ksl.com
