Ueberroth cautions on bids for 2016 Olympics

All dressed up and nowhere to go? For the moment, at least.

Delegations from three prospective Olympic bid cities -- Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco -- spent Wednesday in a hotel conference room in Costa Mesa, learning the ins and outs of the selection process from U.S. Olympic Committee officials.

Chairman Peter Ueberroth sounded a note of caution even though there is expected to be a U.S. bid for the 2016 Games.Ueberroth confirmed that the decision will be made by the end of this year.

“There’s not yet a city that has all four wheels on the ground and ready to start its engine,” Ueberroth said after his morning speech here.

“They’re getting there, but they’re not there. We’re not going to make the mistake of the past.”

Presumably any shortcomings will be discussed today in meetings with each of the bid cities, offering feedback on information submitted by the groups in September.

But the acknowledgment of past mistakes was one theme in Ueberroth’s speech.

He said that the USOC was changing “to ensure the world understands our appreciation runs deep” in support of the Olympic movement and “once again to try to reach back to 1994 and 1984 when we were well-respected in this movement,” he said.

“Where are we today? You only have to look at [the] Singapore meeting in 2005 when the U.S. candidate city [for 2012] was eliminated in the second round and got 16 votes. Sixteen votes when New York City spent $60 million.”

lisa.dillman@latimes.com