49ers create waves for Games bid

The timing could not have been much worse for 2016 Olympic bid officials from San Francisco.

Hours before the group’s scheduled meeting with the U.S. Olympic Committee on Thursday morning, the 49ers halted talks with San Francisco for a stadium project at Candlestick Point, which also was to serve as the city’s Olympic Stadium.

Fallout from the 49ers’ decision, announced late Wednesday, was two-fold: It came close to ending San Francisco’s Olympic bid, and created the impression that only two U.S. cities may bid to host the Games: Chicago and Los Angeles.

And the front-runner is?

“This is not a horse race. All that matters is where you are at the end,” said Barry Sanders, chairman of the Los Angeles bid.

Blindsided might be the way to describe the reaction of the remaining San Francisco delegation. The situation was underscored by the absence of Scott Givens, the bid’s managing director and chief executive officer, who went back to San Francisco for a meeting with Mayor Gavin Newsom on Thursday.

The San Francisco bid team planned to explore all options, and did not rule out withdrawing after the 49ers said they were considering moving to Santa Clara and building a stadium.

The USOC will decide by the end of this year whether to put forth a domestic bid to host the 2016 Games. Should it do so, the organization would then make its city selection in mid-April.

USOC vice president and IOC member Bob Ctvrtlik said the 49ers’ announcement was “obviously a major setback” for San Francisco.

Meanwhile, the L.A. bid faces the issue of repackaging, trying to offer a fresh look after having hosted the Games twice, most recently in 1984.

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