What Chicago’s Olympics loss means

President Obama, the First Lady, and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley in Copenhagen today (John Gichigi/Getty)

Chicago is out of running for 2016 Olympics | Detroit Free Press | Freep.com.

The Windy City will not become an Olympic city.

Chicago was eliminated in the first round of voting today for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games during a vote of the International Olympic Committee meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The voting is still taking place. Tokyo was eliminated in the second round of voting. The two other finalists are Rio de Janeiro and Madrid.

Chicago was hoping to become the United States’ first city to host the Summer Games since Atlanta in 1996. Salt Lake City was the site of the 2002 Winter Olympics

Well, it has just become official….Chicago will NOT be the host of the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Being surprisingly voted out in the first round of the final four cities remaining (Tokyo, Chicago, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid), it came as a shock to celebration parties in the Loop with television cameras ready to pop the champagne on street names like Dearborn, Wacker, Michigan and State.

With Tokyo being voted out in the second round of voting, only 1) Madrid and 2) Rio de Janeiro remain as the two remaining finalists for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

Although I am saddened that an American city (and my hometown) did not get the Olympic nod like Atlanta in 1996, I believe that Rio de Janeiro will ultimately eek out Madrid to win the first Summer Olympic Games ever to be held in South America.

With South American having NEVER hosted a Summer Olympics Game, Brazil’s president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told IOC members in Copenhagen it was time to address the “imbalance”

In a confident presentation, Rio 2016 president Carlos Nuzman showed his fellow IOC members a map of the world marking cities that have hosted the games.

According to his presentation, Europe had 30 dots on the map, Asia five, Oceania two and North America 12 — including eight in the United States, home to expected main rival Chicago.

Thus, if there is any silver lining to be had from our American ‘Second City’ of Chicago losing its 2016 Olympics bid, it is the fact that the continent of South America will FINALLY get to host its FIRST Olympic games in history.

Of course, this is assuming that it beats out Madrid in the finals…