Denver Metro Area ...to host 2018 games??!! ....
... uhm RIGHT ... I LOVE the city of Denver and the state of Colorado .. but the Olympics, uhm not so much. Do you really think the IOC would award the city of Denver the games after 1976. If you don’t know what happened on 1976 with Denver and the IOC...google it ( or just read below ) ...but here is the story below from 9news..isn’t there something better we can put all this money towards...don’t get me wrong I'd LOVE to see the games here in Colorado .. i just don’t think we will be given a chance to win the games AGAIN , and then say NO thanks...
DENVER - Fresh from a visit to Beijing, the site of the 2008 Summer Olympics, Gov. Bill Ritter (D-Colorado) says he supports Denver pushing to host the 2018 winter games. While on an economic-development mission to Japan and China, Ritter and a group of Colorado business leaders visited the official Olympic complex in the Chinese capital city and left believing Denver remains a viable option for a future Olympics.
At a news conference on Wednesday after the 10-day trip to Asia, Ritter said Denver's 2018 bid will depend on the International Olympic Committee's decision next October on whether Chicago will land the 2016 summer games.
If that happens, the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) will not bid until the 2022 Olympic Games. Chicago was recently labeled a favorite because President-Elect Barack Obama is from there and has actively supported the project.
"We'll wait and see what happens, whether Chicago gets the 2016 bid next October, but if they don't, then I'll be full-steam ahead with our efforts to get a 2018 bid for the Winter Olympics," said Ritter, who has also visited Vancouver which will host the 2010 Winter Olympics and Salt Lake City which hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics.
"It's much better to build a Winter Olympics than a Summer Olympics because the upfront investment is so much less, but it certainly did help with their infrastructure. There's a lot of infrastructure that gets built around the hosting of the Olympics."
Denver was awarded the 1976 Olympics by the IOC only to have voters reject any investment due to environmental and financial concerns. It is the only city to have ever been awarded the world's pre-eminent sporting event only to then, turn it down.
Despite predictions that as a result of the spurning, Denver would never have another chance to host an Olympic Games, the USOC formally named Denver as a "Community Partner City" in the last couple years, officially putting the region back in the mix for a possible future Olympic bid.
The effort is being promoted by the Metro Denver Sports Commission whose goal is to bring domestic and international sporting events to Colorado.
Related Links:
Metro Denver Sports Commission: http://www.denversports.org/
Gov. Bill Ritter: http://www.colorado.gov/governor
U.S. Olympic Committee: http://www.usoc.org/
(Copyright KUSA*TV, All Rights Reserved)