US won't bid for 2020 Summer Games

February 21, 2010 New leadership at the US Olympic Committee has been working hard during this month's Vancouver Winter Games to repair relationships and establish themselves as team players in the international olympic movement. Newly installed USOC chief Scott Blackmun concedes there is a lot more work to be done before any city is willing to raise and invest the nearly $80 million neccesary to bid.

Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympics was widely perceived to be a frontrunner but was eliminated in the first round of voting. Fractured relationships with influential IOC members and a "go it alone" attitude among American Olympic leaders of the time are believed to have doomed Chicago's bid.

Blackmun and his team have said they will not submit a US bid until they're comfortable America has the international relationships neccesary to succeed.

The decision not to bid for the next available summer games ensures it will be at least 20 years between Olympics held on US soil.