President Obama Delivers Remarks After Chicago Loses Bid for 2016 Olympics

SPEAKER: PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

[*] OBAMA: Good afternoon, everybody.

One of the things that I think is most valuable about sports is that you can play a great game and still not win. And so, although I wish that we had come back with better news from Copenhagen, I could not be prouder of my home town of Chicago, the volunteers who were involved, Mayor Daley, the delegation and the American people for the extraordinary bid that we put forward.

I do want to congratulate Rio de Janeiro and the nation of Brazil for winning the 2016 Olympics. I think this is a truly historic event as these will be the first Olympic Games ever to be held in South America.

And as neighbors in the Americas, as friends to the Brazilian people, we welcome this extraordinary sign of progress and the fact that the 2016 games will be in the Americas. I had a chance to talk to President Lula and gave him a hearty congratulations and told him that our athletes will see him on the field of competition in 2016.

Again, I want to thank everybody who worked so hard to put America's bid together, not just Mayor Daley and the delegation, Pat Ryan, but most especially the thousands of Chicagoans who volunteered over these past few years. They put in their heart and soul into this bid. I have no doubt that it was the strongest bid possible, and I'm proud that I was able to come in and help make that case in person.