First Lady Michelle Obama has put together a dream team to help her convince the IOC that Chicago should be the home of the 2016 Summer Olympics. Of course, in the final stretch she has pulled out her ace, President Obama who is on his way to Copenhagen this Thursday evening.
Oprah Winfrey, talk show host, Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama and 26 Olympic and Paralympic athletes are part of the official delegation traveling with the first lady.
Mrs. Obama aims to meet as many members of the International Olympic Committee in an effort to win their votes. She is the head of the delegation until her husband arrives on Friday. Chicago is up against Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo.
"Our First Lady enjoys extraordinary popularity around the world," Jarrett said. "It's a big part of why the president asked her to be a part of our team. In addition to which, she was born and raised in Chicago, not far from where some of the venues will be, and she knows and loves the city." (Telegraph.co.uk)
The Chicago 2016 committee also is bringing Danish native Morten Andersen, a former NFL kicker, and former NBA player Dikembe Mutombo of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, whose international humanitarian and goodwill efforts include his purchase of the uniforms that the Zaire women's team wore at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
The other track and field gold medalists are two-time Olympic heptathlon champion Jackie Joyner-Kersee of East St. Louis; reigning Olympic decathlon champion Bryan Clay; two-time intermediate hurdles champion Edwin Moses; and Michael Johnson, the only man to win the 200 and 400 meters at the same Olympics.
Gymnastics legend Nadia ("Perfect 10'') Comaneci and her gymnastics Olympic champion husband, Morton Grove native Bart Conner, are also in the Chicago delegation, as are 2008 Olympic gymnastics all-around champion Nastia Liukin, Olympics swimming champions Gary Hall Jr. and Donna de Varona, and Paralympic track champion April Holmes, who appears with Michael Jordan in one of the videos backing Chicago's bid. (WGN TV Chicago)
Cheri Cabot
Cheri is a freelance writer, living in Southern California. She has two grown children and is the proud grandmother of three.
You can find all of Cheri’s columns on Personal About Politics at www.personalpolitcs.gather.com, The Obama Watch at theobamawatch.gather.comor her home page here, www.ccabot.gather.com.
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Comments: 8
You people are so silly in opposing EVERYTHING Obama that it makes it less potent when you have a valid point. He went there for less than 24 hours.
Maybe you don't know it, but Air Force One is not Southwest Airlines. He met with the top General in Afghanistan in it, he can have a conference call anytime he wants.
Oh, I am sure you had some issues with Bush spending a week in China watching the olympics when everyone was saying the recession was coming. That was just fine, right?
After all the laughing, he could go to Denmark, study how wonderful their open. liberal nation is doing with dealing with their eminent takeover by Muslims and come and finish putting us in perpetual bankruptcy.
Go Chicago, the most historically corrupt political machine north of Louisiana.
With times as perilous as it it now though... I think it was a waste of time and money..I have heard too, that it will creat jobs but for how long and how much will it cost for security... So, will the city actually make anything off of this?