It’s never too early, it seems, to start work on an Olympic bid.
Denver, host of the current SportAccord conference for example,
started laying foundations for a potential 2018 Winter Games bid back
in 2004-5. Then, the city’s sports commission reasonably surmised that
hosting this conference of sports leaders would help restore an image
tarnished by the notable feat of having won the right to host the
Olympic Winter Games (of 1976), only to hand them back. Now,
officials from Busan, Korea, are among those attending this week’s
conference with a view to bidding on 2020.
Also present in Denver this week are Dutch sports representatives,
considering plans to reinvigorate the sporting fortunes of their
country prior to a future Olympic bid. In 2028, perhaps, for the
centenary of Amsterdam 1928. “During Sydney 2000, some voices were
raised in favor of us hosting the Games,” City of Amsterdam project
manager Herman Kooiman told GamesBids.com. “Then during Athens 2004,
even the Prime Minister said Holland should one day host the Games
again.”
A plan is due early this Summer on the feasibility of hosting. But six
goals have already been identified as key to Holland becoming a
sporting powerhouse by 2016: the hosting of more international sports
events (in Amsterdam but also in Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague),
greater mass participation in sport, a top ten finish in the Olympic
medal table, a clearer place for sports in society, the increased use
of sport as a means of social development and greater media attention
for sport. And if these goals are achieved, the path should be clear
for an Olympic bid.
