Have you ever been to Madrid, Tokyo? I have gone from the south side of Chicago to O’Hare in well under 2hrs during rush hour on a Friday and to St. Charles as well in a similar time frame. It isn’t any worse than the other cities listed and better than some.
I don’t really like the idea of the Olympics in Chicago, but I just don’t see how it could lose out to the places in question except perhaps Tokyo who clearly had the best plan. Politics are fun though.