L.A. forced to Games sidelines

Los Angeles’ Olympic future was sidelined Saturday when the U.S. Olympic Committee selected Chicago to advance to the international phase in the race to play host to the 2016 Summer Games.

But will that future be short term or long term? It all hinges on a decision in October 2009 in Copenhagen when the International Olympic Committee considers Chicago and a field that could include Rome, Madrid, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and Prague.

A winning Chicago bid in Denmark essentially means Generation Next for Los Angeles and the Olympics. Should Chicago stumble and fall ... well, gentlemen, start your resumes for the 2020 bid campaign.

“I think there will be, one day, another Olympic bid because we’ve got an organization dedicated to that,” said bid President David Simon of the Los Angeles Sports Council. “May not be for a generation, but I think there will be another Olympic bid from Los Angeles one day.”

In the meantime, Southern California still holds influence in the movement. The USOC’s office of international relations is in Irvine, and three IOC members are based in the region, including Anita DeFrantz.

“The reputation of the Games is still very, very strong and through the years David Simon with the Sports Council has attracted a host of international championships and so forth,” DeFrantz said. “This doesn’t change it. This just means they won’t have this one big event.”

One of the international championships she was talking about was the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships at Staples Center in March, a qualifier for the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

“We’ll go do our things that we do well and continue to be in the Olympic development business,” said AEG President Tim Leiweke, who was on the L.A. bid committee.

AEG’s investment in that area -- namely the Home Depot Center in Carson -- and relationships with several national sports federations had figured to give the L.A. bid group a distinct advantage over Chicago.

But Chicago made up ground in the months leading up to Saturday’s decision, according to observers. Doug Arnot, director of sports and operations for the Chicago bid group, hit the road and met with about “90%” of the USOC’s national governing bodies.

“For us, we felt it was very important we met with them and they understood what we were planning and they had input,” Arnot said in an interview Sunday. “They’ve already been part of our development plan, and the plan is for us to work with the NGBs [national governing bodies] and do the outreach to the international federations, so the international federations become involved in our plan and hopefully become advocates.”

And many leaders of the international federations also happen to be IOC members. USOC board member and speed-skating Olympian Mike Plant was aware of Arnot’s efforts at the national governing body level.

“It was a smart move, engaging the people that have a lot of expertise,” said Plant, who also is the Atlanta Braves’ executive director of business operations.

Sean Petty, USA Cycling’s chief operating officer, said Arnot and two colleagues came to Colorado Springs, Colo., several weeks ago, seeking input and direction about the Olympic cycling events -- road, track, BMX and mountain biking.

“I’ve got to say we greatly appreciated it because even the other [four] cites in the hunt didn’t solicit that feedback from us,” Petty said. “Just the fact they took the time to reach out to the NGB was an appreciated move.”

Times staff writer Helene Elliott contributed to this report.

lisa.dillman@latimes.com