SAN FRANCISCO — A city’s dreams of Olympic competition in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge were dashed Monday when San Francisco dropped out of the running for the 2016 Summer Games, leaving Los Angeles and Chicago as the only possible American candidates.

San Francisco abandoned its bid for the Olympics after plans for a new bayfront stadium collapsed when the city’s NFL team said it intended to move to Silicon Valley.

John York, owner of the San Francisco 49ers, told city officials last week he was breaking off negotiations for a new stadium at Candlestick Point and was considering a move to Santa Clara.

“There’s been a tremendous amount of uncertainty created around the stadium process which has made our bid untenable,” said Peter Ragone, spokesman for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Scott Givens, managing director and chief executive officer of the San Francisco 2016 Bid Committee, said the 49ers’ decision created a “perceptual gap” that hurt the city’s reputation in the eyes of the Olympic committee.

“The damage has been done and the damage can’t be pulled back,” he said.

The International Olympic Committee will select the host city in 2009. Madrid, Spain; New Delhi; Prague, Czech Republic; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Rome; and Tokyo are among those to have expressed interest. The Summer Olympics will be in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012.

The 49ers said Monday they had encouraged the bid committee not to build its entire proposal around a new 49ers stadium at Candlestick Point. Still, members of the city’s Olympic organizing panel were jolted by the team’s decision.

“We’re numb and we’re very disappointed at the recent turn of events,” said Anne Cribbs, a committee member.