Tonight, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley leaves for Copenhagen, Denmark to make the final push for Chicago to host the 2016 Olympic Games.
In just one week the International Olympic Committee will pick a city to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. Today a slew of athletes and city officials gathered at the proposed Olympic stadium site in Washington Park to rally up support. Mayor Daley says even if Chicago doesn’t get the games, the city will still benefit from the campaign.
DALEY: The marketing in itself has been enormous for Chicago, enormous without spending one dime of taxpayers’ money.
Daley says he’s confident, but he’s not about to guess what the IOC will decide.
DALEY: Ok, if I could predict, I’d be predicting every Bear game and Bull game and hockey game. I’d be a millionaire, multi-millionaire. No way. If I did that, I would not be here.
Daley says this coming week he and 2016 committee members will reach out to Olympic delegates and make preparations for the final presentation to the IOC.