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High Flying Olympic Bids

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Standing in front of a backdrop of the Chicago skyline, U.S. first lady Michelle Obama speaks at a dinner in support Chicago hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009, in Copenhagen.
Standing in front of a backdrop of the Chicago skyline, U.S. first lady Michelle Obama speaks at a dinner in support Chicago hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009, in Copenhagen.

President Obama, on his way to Copenhagen tonight, to lobby for his town, Chicago, to get the Summer Olympics in 2016. Michelle Obama, already there. And Oprah. And Chicago Mayor Daley. And on, and on.
Tokyo’s in the running, with a prince and princess in town to lobby. Madrid, with the king of Spain.
But the smart money says the big challenger is Rio de Janeiro, out of booming Brazil. South America’s never had the Olympics. Rio wants it badly. So does Chicago. Mostly.
This hour, On Point: We’ll hear the cases they’re making. Chicago versus Rio, head to head, for the Olympics.
You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.Guests:

Joining us from Copenhagen is Brian Cazeneuve, staff writer for Sports Illustrated. He wrote this week about "the pros and cons of each bid for the 2016 Olympics."

Also from Copenhagen we're joined by David Wallechinsky, Olympics scholar and Vice President of the International Society of Olympic Historians. He's author of  "The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics" and "The Complete Book of the Winter Olympics."

Joining us from Chicago is Laura Washington, columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. See the Sun-Times' coverage of the 2016 bid.

Joining us from Miami is Paulo Sotero, director of the Brazil Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center International Center for Scholars. He spent 17 years as the Washington correspondent for Estado de Sao Paulo, a leading Brazilian newspaper.

This program aired on October 1, 2009.

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