USOC Drops Houston, Philly From Running

DENVER - The backdrop of America's bid for the 2016 Olympic Games might be the Golden Gate Bridge, the Sears Tower or the Los Angeles Coliseum - or none of these at all.

The U.S. Olympic Committee eliminated Houston and Philadelphia as candidate cities for the 2016 Olympics on Wednesday, leaving San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago in the running for what many consider to be America's best shot in years at landing a Summer Games.

The three finalists, however, will have to make significant enhancements in their plans for the USOC even to bid on the 2016 Games, said Peter Ueberroth, the USOC chairman and the architect of the profit-making 1984 Games in Los Angeles.

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