To a certain type of person, Barack Obama's election as American president meant one thing. Forget change, hope and the liberation of the English language from captivity. It meant that Obama's adopted hometown, Chicago, will now surely get to host the 2016 Olympics. When Obama shows up in Copenhagen next October for the vote by the International Olympic Committee, he will blow away the rival bids from Tokyo, Rio and Madrid. But although Chicago's bid needs him, he needs it just as much.

In itself, the quality of a city's bid rarely sways the 111 IOC members. They are often more concerned with the quality of the city's shopping. For some IOC members, the vote is about choosing where to spend their all-expenses-paid three-week holiday.