Oprah to Travel to Copenhagen for Olympic Pitch

Illustrious O-verlord to bolster Chicago's bid delegation abroad

Oprah Winfrey will travel to Copenhagen to help support Chicago's final bid presentation, Chicago 2016 announced Wednesday.

“We are very honored and excited to have Oprah Winfrey travel to Copenhagen,” said Patrick G. Ryan, chairman and CEO of Chicago 2016 in a release. “As a member of our community and as someone who understands and demonstrates the value of helping others, she embodies the spirit of so many Chicagoans and is truly an emissary for our bid and for the city of Chicago.”

Observers have considered Oprah's presence in Copenhagen a sure thing since she announced a few weeks ago that she would travel to Copenhagen if she felt she was needed for the city's final Olympic pitch.

"There's some talk about it, and if I feel I can be useful there, then that's what I will do," Winfrey said.

Winfrey will join several high profile names in Copenhagen, not least of which is First Lady Michelle Obama.

Also attending: 26 Olympic and Paralympic athletes, including two-time Olympic heptathlon champion Jackie Joyner-Kersee of East St. Louis; reigning Olympic decathlon champion Bryan Clay; two-time intermediate hurdles champion Edwin Moses; and Michael Johnson, the only man to win the 200 and 400 meters at the same Olympics.

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