Chicago seems to have the Olympic bid wrapped up, except it doesn’t. That’s pretty much what we’ve seen the last few months: there are plenty of things in the city’s favor, just as there’s things that aren’t. No one seems to have a read on which city will get the bid on Friday; the BidIndex has had different cities on top at varying times (there’s never been a clear-cut favorite), and has all four locales extremely close now, with Rio having a slight edge over Chicago for the No.1 spot.

So with everything so close, Chicago pulled an ace out of its sleeve this morning: Barack Obama and the first lady will be in Copenhagen to take part in the city’s presentation. In a race that’s so close, it’s a power play, one that might put Chicago, and by extension, the United States, over the top.

So why announce now? NBC Chicago shows us the way:

One: It was always so. The 2016 Olympic gang and the White House orchestrated a PR campaign that climaxes with the arrival, in Copenhagen, of the leader of the free world. Boo ya. Compelling, if only for the sheer conspiratorial excitement.

Two: Luck. Obama found time in his schedule. Meh. If Obama was hedging in public, it was a political hedge. If he had committed to going weeks or months ago, his detractors would have made hay. Bails and bails of hay.

Three: Seeing Rio take the No. 1 spot in contender rankings Sunday, and seeing that Tokyo’s prime minister finally decided to go to Copenhagen, the White House made their move to control the news cycle.

I’m going to go with a combination of one and three. This was likely already in the works — would Obama really not try and give his city, as well as his country, a last push if/when it needed it? — but was announced today to control the Olympic news cycle, after some positive news from other bid cities emerged.

Or maybe there’s a fourth option here: The world is conspiring to push the Lions’ win out of our collective memories. Yup, that must be it.