Oprah and Mrs Obama wow Chicago 2016 party

From Gerard Meagher, Sportsbeat, Copenhagen

MICHELLE Obama and Oprah Winfrey issued passionate rallying calls as Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid team held a star spangled pre-election party in Copenhagen.

STAR POWER: American First Lady Michelle Obama arrived in Copenhagen today for Friday's Olympic vote. Her husband will follow 48 hours later

More than 300 flag waving and vocal supporters attended the event, including Olympic gold medallists Bryan Clay, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Nadia Comaneci.

Twelve months ago the American First Lady and the Queen of Chat, united to campaign for Barack Obama's historic presidential run.

Now they they've found common cause again but it's not millions of votes they are chasing - they need just 54 members of the International Olympic Committee to get their message, with Madrid, Rio and Tokyo the rivals rather than John McCain.
  
"As my husband would say, are we fired up and ready to go here?" asked Mrs. Obama, to a whooping and hollering audience.

"When I looked at the bid initially, I was overwhelmed at what a beautiful concept was presented.

"Everything about this bid speaks to what the city has to offer. Using the lakefront, using the existing park structure to ensure we're making the kinds of investments and will have the kind of leave-behinds that will benefit the city in the long run.
    
"It will be an athletes' paradise in so many ways, and we will have it at a time in the city's climate that it will actually be nice. The lake won't be frozen over.
   
"So I am thrilled, I am proud of our bid and I'm proud of our team. So I have to ask you, are we ready to go with this?"

RUN FOR VICTORY: Members of Chicago's 2016 delegation publicise their Olympic bid with a run through Copenhagen earlier today

Bid leader Patrick Ryan was greeted with a standing ovation when he entered the party - and claimed he felt Chicago was carrying critical momentum into Friday's presentation and vote, which will also be attended by President Obama.

"You can feel the electricity in the air, you can feel the competition in the air. It's just a great feeling," he said.
  
Winfrey, who started her broadcasting career on local television in Chicago, also took her turn to pump up the crowd in scenes more familiar to a political convention than normal gatherings of the International Olympic Committee.

"For me, this is beyond exciting because here we are, just hours away from a decision that could be a landmark in Chicago history," she said.
 
"For us to be able to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games would be what my grandmother used to call our crowning glory. Something that certainly would be worthy of a brand-new star on our Chicago flag."