Olympics-2008

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    USOC Chairman Peter Ueberroth and Chief Executive Officer Jim Scherr submitted the official letter to IOC President Jacques Rogge, along with a letter from Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, expressing his city's commitment to the IOC's two-year bid process.

    Chicago was chosen as the U.S. bid city through a year-long domestic evaluation process modeled after the IOC's evaluation process. The USOC invited five cities to participate in the evaluation process - Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and San Francisco.

    The cities were narrowed to Chicago and Los Angeles, at which point the USOC formed an 11-person Domestic Candidate City Evaluation Commission to assess the proposed Games infrastructure and organizational plan, based on 17 themes, in each city. The USOC Board of Directors selected Chicago as the U.S. Applicant City on April 14 in Washington, D.C.

    "The Olympic bid process is about building partnerships to strengthen sport - first at home and then around the world," Ueberroth said. "When we looked at Chicago, we saw an ideal partner for that process, a beautiful waterfront city with passionate sports fans and a can-do Mayor who leads a city that knows how to get things done."

    In the formal submission to the IOC, Ueberroth and Scherr indicated Chicago's selection was based on a number of factors:

    -- Chicago developed a vision and plan for the Games in the heart of the city that, we believe, would deliver an extraordinary experience for the Olympians and Paralympians of 2016;

    -- The public/private partnership between the City of Chicago, under the leadership of Mayor Richard M. Daley, and the business community, under the leadership of Chicago 2016 Chairman Patrick Ryan, demonstrated an ability to marshal the resources of the city and mobilize public support for the bid at levels beyond those of any American bid city in the past;

    -- The celebration center at the heart of the Games, set along the city's spectacular park-lined lakefront, offers the Olympic Movement an ideal gathering place to showcase the unity of humanity in remarkable ways;

    -- As the capital of America's heartland - with a central geographic location in the middle of the country - Chicago is in a strong position to engage our nation with a new vision of the transforming power of the Olympic Movement and build a new level of participation in and visibility for Olympic sport across our country; and

    -- Chicago's unique vision and unmatched passion made it an outstanding choice.

    "We look forward to presenting Chicago's bid to the IOC over the next two years," Scherr said. "We will demonstrate that this city has the potential to stage one of the best Olympic and Paralympic Games in history, while strengthening the Olympic Movement around the world."

    "The people of Chicago have been fantastically supportive of our bid and have showed real passion for the Olympic spirit," Ryan said. "The next two years will be an amazing competition, one that will continue to strengthen the Olympic Movement in Chicago and the United States."

    National Olympic Committees have until Sept. 13 to submit 2016 Applicant Cities to the IOC. The international bid process will last two years, concluding in October 2009 at the IOC Session in Copenhagen, Denmark, when the 2016 Host City is selected.