London leader cheers Chicago bid - Olympic athlete and chair of 2012 committee calls the Windy City 'the best-kept secret'

London leader cheers Chicago bid - Olympic athlete and chair of 2012 committee calls the Windy City 'the best-kept secret'
By Philip Hersh
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published July 6, 2007

GUATEMALA CITY -- Sebastian Coe has felt affection for Chicago since 1984, when he spent six weeks living with York High School coach Joe Newton and training on the Elmhurst school's track and the Butler National golf course. Coe went on to become the only man with two Olympic titles in the metric mile by winning the 1,500 meters in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Coe has been celebrated more recently for his role in turning around what had been a flagging London bid for the 2012 Olympics. Now he is chairman of the London 2012 Olympic Organizing Committee and a man to whom Chicago 2016 bid officials already have turned to for advice.

"Chicago is the best-kept secret," Coe said. "It's like living in a coastal city."

Over a Thursday breakfast here during the International Olympic Committee annual meeting, Coe offered further advice on how Chicago should let the Olympic world in on the secret. This is an edited transcript of that conversation.

Q What lessons can Chicago draw from the London experience?

A They have to explain their story, to explain why they are doing it. Simply put, it's not just about 16 days of Olympic or Paralympic sport. There has to be a lasting, sustainable legacy. From what we've gleaned from a short meeting [with Chicago's bid leaders], I think they understand that.

[Local] populations are much more sophisticated and demanding. Gone are the days when you were able to say to a local populace, "We're going to go for the Games," without explaining to them why and what the benefits are. There was a time when it was enough to be excited about the show coming to town.

In liberal democracies, there are many more tiers of scrutiny. People want to know what it's going to cost and what they are going to get for it and how it is going to be paid for.

Q Russian President Vladimir Putin played a dramatic role this week in helping Sochi win the 2014 Winter Games. Does the president of the United States have to commit to coming to Copenhagen in 2009 [when the 2016 Games site will be selected]?

A I think it's more than just attending. I think the IOC wants to know that it has really got political support. It is not just somebody standing up and saying we've got it.

The IOC wants to know there is a guarantor of last resort sitting at the table. Any American city that is really serious about this has got to recognize that you won't be able to stand up and say this is going to be entirely funded by the private sector. There has to be some local and national commitment.

And probably the American president is going to need to turn up and be seen [in Copenhagen].

Q Do you think the IOC membership understands well enough that there is a different system in place in the States, that Mayor Daley showing up would be enough?

A Most of the members are pretty sophisticated. The mayor is important and [so is] the recognition there are many other tiers where you need to get sign-off where an American president would have little if any impact.

Q Between now and the 2009 vote, what should Chicago avoid?

A Just don't make mistakes. (Laughs) It's a long campaign. There are no "six-weeks-to-thin-thighs type" approaches to this. You're out there for two years. Everything you do every day, it has got to be value-added, to be able to present the best case, getting the narrative across to as many people that can impact on that decision.

Selling and lobbying within the confines of what has become a much tighter protocol is one part of it. You have got to make sure that over the length of those two years you get out there, you use the international media, you get onto people's radar screen, and that's not always easy.

You really have to explain locally what you are doing and keep the domestic audience on board. And that's tougher in the States, I guess. If it's Chicago, you've got to get people excited about it in Portland.

Q Portland, Ore., and Portland, Maine?

A Yes. And in Washington. And Birmingham.

Q Why do cities thought of as early leaders often falter? (As Paris did in the 2012 race and Salzburg did for 2014.)

A It's hard to maintain that kind of momentum. Pacing is important for your own internal team and because every time you turn up somewhere, you want the message to be fresh and to get into peoples' comfort zone. It's not being out there too much but not doing too much by stealth. It's a campaign. You have to smell your way through it sometimes.

(London 2012 Chief Executive Paul Deighton, also at the breakfast, added, "Chicago is in an interesting position because of going through a U.S. Olympic Committee competition that really put them through their paces -- to think about what they are going to do and how they are going to do it beyond the other competitors. I don't know if I would describe them as an early leader or just as a city that had the opportunity to clarify its early planning because of the process the USOC put them through.")

Q How do you think they need to frame the involvement with Iraq?

A In the two years we were out there, I could probably count on less than one hand any conversation that remotely bordered on any international political dimension.

Q Were you helped by people's regard of you as a great Olympic champion? The leaders of the Chicago bid staff are corporate people.

A I'd like to think it wasn't a disadvantage, but I don't kid myself. You need a blend. It was a very well-blended team. It wasn't simply about having an athlete at the head of the bid committee.

You need an athlete presence. What was important for us was that it wasn't just ceremonial. When an evaluation team came through London and [Olympic decathlon champion] Daley Thompson and [Paralympic champion] Tanni Grey-Thompson were there, they were able to answer questions. It's much more than having expensive calling cards there.

The athletes not only lend you credibility but play a pretty important role. To get it right with the athletes, you are forced to get it right. You can't dump a substandard [Olympic] project on people who work for 10 or 15 years in order to do what they are doing.

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phersh@tribune.com