Led by President Barack Obama, the United States made its pitch Friday to members of the International Olympic Committee and lobbied for Chicago to host the 2016 Summer Games.

The speeches came in advance of the IOC hearing from the three other finalists - Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo - in preparation for the ultimate vote later Friday when the IOC will announce the host city.

"America is ready and eager to assume that sacred trust," said Obama. "We are a nation that has always opened its arms to the citizens of the world."

The President and First Lady, Michelle Obama, both from Chicago, spoke at length during the near one-hour presentation to IOC president Jacques Rogge and other members of the organization. Also on hand were Chicago mayor Richard Daley and other prominent figures in the Windy City's bid to host the Olympics.

"While we do not know what the next few years will bring, there is nothing I would like more than to step just a few blocks from my family's home, with Michelle and our two girls and welcome the world back into our neighborhood," said the President. "From the beginning of this new century, the nation that has been shaped by people from around the world, wants a chance to inspire it once more."

The President took an overnight flight from the White House to Copenhagen. Although it was to be a short stay, the magnitude of Chicago's final presentation was important enough for Obama to leave Washington. He became the first President to appear in person for a final presentation before the IOC.

At the conclusion, Obama shook hands with Rogge.

There were several video montages, many of them highlighting Chicago's diversity and commitment to host the Olympics.

"We have learned what it means to be an Olympic city. I pledge to you today that Chicago will deliver. Because in Chicago we just don't talk about what we will do, we do it. No other U.S. bid city has ever delivered such strong backing for your games," said Daley.

Reigning Olympic decathlon champion Bryan Clay was also part of the presentation of a 12-member delegation representing Chicago's bid.

"We want you to know for the next seven years we will focus exclusively on being your committed partner," said Pat Ryan, Chairman and CEO of the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid committee. "If so honored we will begin tomorrow preparing to deliver a spectacular games to all who attend. I humbly submit Chicago would be the right partner for the Olympic movement right now."

Michelle Obama described how her father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and battled the disease in his mid-thirties and how he struggled everyday, but still had a passion for sports and the Olympic movement. He died in 1990, two years before she married Barack Obama.

"When I think of what these games can mean to people all over the world, I think of people like my dad," she said. "People who faced seemingly insurmountable challenges, but never let go...they work a little harder, but they never give up.

"It's about inspiring this generation and building a lasting legacy for the next. It's about our responsibility as Americans not to just put on great games, but to use these games as a vehicle to bring us together, to usher in a new era of international engagement that can give us hope and change lives all over the world."

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