Following the loss of New York’s bid for the 2012 Summer Games and the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) reportedly opting out of a bid for the 2014 Winter Games, Denver is looking at bidding for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.
Rob Cohen, President of the Metro Denver Sports Commission said, “we’re looking at all international events that range from the smallest you can think of to obviously the granddaddy of them all, the Olympic Games”.
The Denver Post reports that Cohen traveled to three Swiss cities in June – Lausanne, Zurich and Thun – to boost Denver’s sports stature globally and “build buzz” for future event bids, meeting with international governing bodies for speed skating, skiing, ice hock and cycling.
According to the newspaper Denver appears to be following a blueprint that any city with Olympic designs must first lure and host a string of world championships to give the city a higher profile.
The Metro Denver Sports Commission has hired Olympic consultant George Hirthler who was a strategist for six previous Olympic bids including Atlanta 1996, Beijing 2008, and Vancouver 2010.
Cohen’s group hopes to meet with the USOC in early August to discuss its preparations for a potential Denver bid.
Metro Denver Sports Commission vice chairman Steve Sander said he expects the USOC to “aggressively go after both 2016 and 2018”. He added he believes USOC leaders realize they made a tactical mistake by banking so heavily on New York’s unsuccessful 2012 campaign.
More than two years ago a committee was established to explore the possibilities of Denver hosting an Olympic Games. At that time Denver was considering a bid for the 2014 Winter Games or the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
