Barack Obama's hometown of Chicago, Illinois will not be the host of the 2016 Olympics. The Windy City was the first to be eliminated from the list of potential host cities, followed by Tokyo, Japan. The International Olympic Committee now has to choose between Madrid, Spain and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Many were surprised by the IOC's decision, as Chicago had been considered a favorite. In fact, Chicago had been a favorite on several wagering sites ahead of the IOC's decision in Copenhagen.

Chicago had sent a large delegation of former Olympic athletes, business leaders and politicians to lobby on behalf of the city. Personal appeals by President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama where also made in hopes to secure the Games.

As the announcement was made, a depressing pall fell over a packed downtown plaza filled with people sporting orange-themed t-shirts and signs rooting for Chicago.

Neither Madrid nor Rio de Janeiro has played host to the Olympics in the past. Spain has hosted the Games before, however, with Barcelona in 1992. It seems that of the two remaining contenders, Rio de Janeiro is the favorite, as no South American country has ever hosted the Olympics.

Olympic gold medal winner Shawn Johnson was named the 2008 Sullivan Award which is given to the country's top amateur athlete. In accepting the award, Johnson stated:

"Being up there with all the other athletes and just hearing all the titles they kept listing off, I was like, 'There's no way.' Then when they called my name," Johnson added, "it's the biggest honor there is. To be the first female gymnast, it's just amazing. I'm so excited."

Here is video of Johnson accepting the award:

A crazy video of Robert O’Ryan, who stalked Olympic gold medal champion and Dancing With The Stars contestant Shawn Johnson, got into trouble with the law on his ride to Los Angeles. O’Ryan, who was found with arrested with the possession of guns, duct tape, zip ties, and love letters to Johnson, had been stopped in a small town in Alabama on his way to see Johnson in California.

A police dash cam video shows O'Ryan talking crazy throughout the stop. The 34 year mentions the Olympian many times to the patrol officer but admits that he doesn't really know here. Here is the video:

Michael Phelps has confirmed that he will keep swimming. The world record star who was publicly embarrassed last month when a photo surfaced of him smoking a marijuana bong became fodder for the media, confirmed the news this week to NBC saying:

"Ever since the Olympics, I've had a hard time really finding the passion to get back in the pool.

"My mom and I talked about it, and I talked to some friends about it. And I talked to a lot of people about it.

"And I just literally woke up one Sunday, probably about two, three weeks ago, and there was literally a blink of an eye where I was just like, 'Why would I ever be questioning that?'

"It's literally something in my body just completely turned - like a 180. And from right then and there, I had a passion for getting back in the pool and doing what I wanted to do.

"It's a little painful getting back into shape.

"But I like it. I'm ready to go another four years, and I still have goals."

The first part of the broadcast was seen on the Today show this morning. A second installment of the interview will be broadcast Sunday evening on Dateline NBC.

Michael Phelps has will return to action on May 14th after serving a 3 month suspension for smoking Marijuana. Phelps will compete in the Charlotte UltraSwim meet in Raleigh, N.C., on May 14-17.

Phelps coach Bob Bowman said in a news release from the group running the event:

“Michael is focused on practicing and regaining the mental and physical momentum that he had achieved going into the Beijing Olympics. He is committed to a very demanding and rigorous training schedule as he prepares for upcoming meets and the FINA World Championships"

While David Marsh, Director of Coaching and CEO of SwimMAC stated

“This is a wonderful and rare opportunity for Charlotte to experience world class swimming up close. Coming off of the unprecedented excitement of the 2008 Olympics, to be able to have so many recent Gold Medalists together again is simply outstanding.”

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge says that Michael Phelps deserves a second chance after he was photographed smoking marijuana from a bong. Rogge says the swimmer should receive the benefit of the doubt after his public apology and promises not to repeat the mistake.

This past August, Phelps took home a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics. Earlier this month the British newspaper News of the World published a photo of Phelps with a pipe at a party in South Carolina. He was thus suspended by the U.S. swimming federation for three months.

Rogge says that Phelps was not guilty of a doping offense because the incident occurred outside of a competition. However he warned that "this is not something he should repeat." Speaking friday at the opening of an IOC liaison office with the European Union, he continued, "II tend to believe he will not do it."

The marijuana incident is the the first time that Phelps has been caught engaging in an illegal activity. Shortly after his triumphs at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, at the age of 19, Phelps was caught drunk driving. This marks the second offense for the swimming superstar - will a third strike mean he's out?

Michael Phelps will not have to face charges after being pictured taken a hit from a bong. In Columbia, South Carolina, Richland County Sheriff Leon reversed course when he stated that he would not prosecute the Olympic champion swimmer. In the press conference, Lott said while he is not pursuing charges he couldn't ignore the fact that a law was broken by Phelps:

"By ignoring the November incident, I would have been sending a message of tolerance and condoning the use of illegal drugs,"

"If I had ignored it, people on the other side would have asked why I had ignored it. These were drug violations. They were against the law. You had to do something."

"I hope he's learned from this."

Disgraced Swimmer Michael Phelps has sent a message through his Twitter account declaring that he is back on his feet and thanks those that have supported him. Phelps wrote on the Twitter using the screen name Michael_Phelps:

Back on my feet and getting back in gear! Thank you to all that are supporting me. It's because of all of you that drives me to be #1!

Washed Up Swimmer/Exhibitionist Uses Americas Most Famous Pothead to Get Her Name Back in the News

Amanda Beard loves publicity and probably is wondering why she didn't think of getting pictured smoking some grass to make some headlines. Beard, a two time Olympic gold medalist but best known for showing off her body in public, compared Michael Phelps' battle with bad PR to her own situation when she posed nude for playboy in a recent text message:

"If anyone knows public scrutiny, it's me. When I posed for Playboy, so many officials looked down on me. Michael knows he isn't a bad person. He made a mistake. People need to get over it. I want to cheer him on in London."

Not unexpectedly, Kellogg is dropping their sponsorship of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps following the publication of a photo which depicted him smoking marijuana. Kellogg will allow the swimmer's contract to expire at the end of the month.

A Kellogg spokesperson issued the following statement:

"We originally built the relationship with Michael, as well as the other Olympic athletes, to support our association with the U.S. Olympic team. Michael's most recent behavior is not consistent with the image of Kellogg. His contract expires at the end of February and we have made a decision not to extend his contract."

In addition, Kellogg also decided not to renew its Olympic Team sponsorship, which expired in December 2008.

Phelps also has a rather lucrative deal with Subway, which has thus far declined to comment on the situation. Subway has a campaign featuring Phelps ready to hit the airwaves, but at this point it seems like a delay is likely.

Instead of dropping Phelps, Subway could instead take a different angle with their TV ad campaign. The theme could be "When I get the munchies, I pick up a Subway sandwich." Imagine the new demographic they'd reach with that one.