MOSCOW, October 3 (RIA Novosti) - U.S. President Barack Obama is disappointed after Chicago failed to win the right for hosting the 2016 Olympic Games, a spokesman for the White House said.
Rio de Janeiro was named the host city for the 2016 Olympic Summer Games on Friday after the International Olympic Committee vote in Copenhagen. Rio, which faced stiff competition from Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo, becomes the first South American city to be awarded the games.
"Obviously I think the President is disappointed, as you might imagine. I think he continues to believe, and we heard this from a number of people, that Chicago had a very strong if not the best bid," Robert Gibbs told the journalists aboard the U.S. Air Force One en route from Denmark to the United States.
Chicago, whose bid was backed in person by U.S. President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, was the first city to fall by the wayside in the IOC vote.
"But I think he [the president] feels obviously proud of his wife for the presentation that she made, and doesn't shy away from promoting America in this event or in any other venue as a way to showcase this country," Gibbs added.
Meanwhile, residents of Brazil's second largest city streamed out of their offices and homes to celebrate the news on world famous beaches such as Copacabana and Ipanema.
At the final presentations prior to the vote on Friday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva threw his weight behind the city's bid.
"I honestly believe it is Brazil's time," Silva said. "It is time to light the Olympic cauldron in a tropical country."
