Obama to Attend Olympic Vote

WASHINGTON — President Obama will travel to Copenhagen later this week to support Chicago’s bid to play host to the 2016 Summer Games, the White House and the Chicago organizers announced on Monday. It will be the first time an American president attended an International Olympic Committee vote and lobbied in person for an American city to become host of the Games.

Mr. Obama had initially said that the pressing issue of health care reform would prevent him from making the trip to Copenhagen, where one of four cities — Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro or Tokyo — would be named the host city after Friday’s vote. Mr. Obama said he would send his wife, Michelle Obama, a lifelong Chicagoan, in his place. But there were signals last week that Mr. Obama was likely to make the trip after all, and the White House sent an advance team to Copenhagen to prepare the way. The final decision was made public early Monday morning.

“President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama symbolize the hope, opportunity and inspiration that makes Chicago great, and we are honored to have two of our city’s most accomplished residents leading our delegation in Copenhagen,” Mayor Richard M. Daley said in a statement. “Who better to share with members of the International Olympic Committee the commitment and enthusiasm Chicago has for the Olympic and Paralympic Movement than the President and First Lady.”

The Chicago bid leader, Patrick G. Ryan, said he was honored that Mr. Obama would join the bid team “for the pinnacle moment in our bid.”

The host city will be announced Friday at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time, after each city delivers a 70-minute final presentation to the 100-plus I.O.C. members. Mr. Obama is expected to be a part of that final presentation. Heads of state from Brazil and Spain are also expected to be present in Copenhagen.

The competition to become the host city for the 2016 Games is said to be the tightest in years. Rio, trying to become the first South American city to play host to the Games, is thought to have a slight lead over Chicago. The vote may be won by one or two votes, so Mr. Obama’s presence there is “very critical” because he is likely to sway votes Chicago’s way, said Robert Livingstone, the producer for the Web site GamesBids.com, which follows the business of Olympic bids.

Mr. Obama and his wife will join a large delegation that will be in Copenhagen, including more than two dozen Olympians and Paralympians. Oprah Winfrey, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood also will make the trip.

Other bid cities will have their own large group of supporters in Copenhagen. But in the recent past, the presence of the heads of states made the difference.

Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain set the bar high in 2005, when he and his wife, Cherie, traveled to the I.O.C. meeting in Singapore to lobby for London’s bid for the 2012 Games. London won those Games in an upset over Paris. Mr. Blair’s last-minute efforts were said to have won the day.

At the next vote to choose a host city, in 2007, Vladimir Putin, who was then president of Russia and is now prime minister, addressed the I.O.C. membership in Guatemala City in English, pushing for the resort city of Sochi, Russia, to host the 2014 Winter Games. Sochi was chosen.