Morgan's Lindsey Anderson was as shocked as anybody when she learned Rio de Janeiro won the right to host the 2016 Olympics in Brazil -- and that Chicago was eliminated after the first round of voting by the International Olympic Committee.
"That's crazy," she said. "The first round? ... That's a bummer."
But like many fellow athletes, the steeplechase runner who competed at the 2008 Beijing Games expressed appreciation that the Olympics are headed to South America for the first time.
"If anyone else beside the U.S. was going to get it, I would hope it would be Rio, because it's never been there," she said. "It's kind of cool they get it."
That sentiment was widespread among Utah Olympians who had been monitoring the much-anticipated vote Friday in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Discus thrower Niklas Arrhenius of Orem wasn't surprised only that Chicago did not win the vote, but also that Rio beat Madrid in the final round of voting.
"I thought maybe Madrid" would win "if it wasn't going to be Chicago," he said. "But it's cool. ... I thought it would be cool to have a chance to compete in an Olympics in America, but at the same time, competing in Brazil would be cool, too."
"Definitely, if I was a person in South America -- even if I didn't live in Brazil -- I would be thinking that it's about time that it's our turn to host," he added.
Beach volleyball player Jake Gibb of Bountiful had been rooting for Rio from the start, having enjoyed several trips to the city that he called "one of my favorite places." Several Brazilian players on the pro tour had given him pause, saying they didn't think Rio could be organized enough to pull off an Olympics.
Still, "I'd love to see it in Rio," he said.
Arielle Martin won't mind, either. The BMX racer from Pleasant Grove left a watch party at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in California to go work out, after Chicago was eliminated. But she expressed few concerns about Brazil, having competed in Sao Paulo, not far from Rio.
"It's a beautiful country, just gorgeous," she said. "The food is great, the people are so nice. The concern that's on everyone's mind is the crime rate. ... The big question they're looking at is being able to control the situation and assure the safety of the athletes," though she expects organizers to "step up" and handle that well.
None of the athletes had strong ideas about why Chicago was bounced so early. Some wondered if geography worked against it -- the upcoming 2010 Vancouver Games will be held in North America -- or whether the star-studded approach that included Oprah and President Barack Obama backfired.
Either way, "I am really bummed that the bid did not go to Chicago because it would be amazing for my fellow American teammates to be able to compete on home soil," said moguls skier Shannon Bahrke of Park City, who won a silver medal at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics. "It is truly an honor and something that I wish every American athlete could experience. I am really happy for Rio and know they will do a great job. They certainly have the Olympic spirit and will show great pride."
Perhaps one of the most disappointed locals was former Real Salt Lake general manager Steve Pastorino, who attended college in Chicago and now works for Team Handball USA, which stood to earn an automatic berth to the Olympics as the host nation if Chicago won the bid.
Instead, it will have to compete for one, like everybody else -- except Brazil, a power in team handball.
"I've heard their bid is strong, and it's going to be an incredible few years in Brazil," with the country also staging the 2014 World Cup in soccer, said Pastorino, who also writes a soccer column for The Salt Lake Tribune . "It's an incredibly dynamic country and a huge country and a huge economy ... and the Olympics have the potential to do for Brazil -- from an international relations perspective -- what Beijing did for China last year."
