Denver is conducting a feasibility study on whether it will be for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, even though, as reported by the Rocky Mountain News, Colorado became the only place ever to reject the Olympic after agreeing to stage them when in 1972 the state’s voters rejected the 1976 Games for economic and environmental reasons.
San Diego State University professor Robert Mechikoff said, “I don’t think that blows ‘em out of the water, but it might make some at the United States Olympic Committee a little gun-shy”.
Five members of the Metro Denver Sports Commission plan to attend the Turin 2006 Opening Ceremony then tour the event for six days.
Rob Cohen, chairman of the commission, told the newspaper recently, “we’re looking at and continuing to talk about (the Olympics) from an exploratory committee standpoint. Everybody knows we’ve been talking about the pros and cons of multisport events and what they do and don’t do for cities”.
Harry Henriksen, who has written on the history of the Olympic bid process, says Denver has some obvious assets. “Denver probably has the organizational and political ability. They’ve got a good airport, good interstate access. They have everything they need; maybe they might have to build some venues.
“But it’s hard to say if those things outweigh the negative factors. What if Denver got it? Will there be people who turn against it afterward? You don’t know”, he said.
