What The 2016 Olympics Would Have Looked Like In Downtown Chicago

DOWNTOWN — Chicago didn't get the 2016 Olympics, but if it did, Downtown would have played a major role.

The city's core would have hosted contests for 15 sports ranging from kayaking at Northerly Island to Taekwondo in McCormick Place. 

A marathon would have stepped off at Buckingham Fountain. Soldier Field would have hosted the Gold Medal soccer match.

And the city would have built a temporary $88 million rowing course in Monroe Harbor. 

^{A rendering of the rowing course. [City of Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid]}

Other plans included a permanent $40.2 million canoe-kayak slalom at Northerly Island, a temporary $14.2 million beach volleyball stadium and $15.2 million sailing center on the island, and a temporary $10.9 million archery field in Grant Park.

The Lakeside Center at McCormick Place, which Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently served up as a site for the forlorn Lucas Museum, would have hosted media from across the world along with contests for as many as 11 sports. 

RELATED: Chicago's 2016 Olympics: What It Meant And Why It Didn't Happen

The city's failed Olympic bid also included promotional videos from President Barack Obama and Michael Jordan. Another one, dubbed "Chicago Rising," features a narrator describing the "spark" of the Great Chicago Fire that led to the city's renaissance. 

"It starts with a spark, a spark that burns the city to the ground and ignites a passion among its people to push the very boundaries of what a city could be," the narrator says.

But the Olympics chose Rio, and all these plans were for naught. Here's what the Olympics would have looked like in Downtown Chicago:

^{Beach volleyball at Northerly Island. [All renderings from the 2016 City of Chicago Olympic Bid]}

^{Canoe/kayak slalom at Northerly Island.}

^{A marathon stepping off at Buckingham Fountain.}

^{McCormick Place would have hosted contests for 11 sports and been a base for media.} 

^{Archery at a new field in Grant Park.} 

^{The Downtown lakefront during the Olympics.} 

^{A map of Olympic games Downtown.} 

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