POSTED: September 28th 2008
NewsUpdate
Denver eyes on 2018
Special Correspondent / Sports Features Communications
DENVER: Denver politicians and sports officials are weighing up the pros and cons of whether to prepare a bid for the 2018 Winter Games.
Considerations take a serious turn this week as a group of 165 local business and government leaders visit Vancouver, British Columbia, which plays host in 2010.
The group's official mission has been organised under the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce's annual Leadership Exchange program and includes the Governor of Colorado, Bill Ritter, and the Mayor of Denver, John Hickenlooper.
The Olympics are just one of many topics on the agenda of a meeting with the VANOC chief executive, John Furlong, and the head of 2010 Legacies Now organization. This is a key Vancouver group tuned to emphasize the social and economic benefits of Olympic hosting and how it can enhance the community and create legacies.
Rob Cohen, executive chairman of the Metro Denver Sports Commission, described the mission as investigative to “gauge whether it would be a good or bad thing for the community" and to initiate an exchange of knowledge with Vancouver 2010 organizers.
Denver hosts SportAccord next March 23-27 which should provide a perfect opportunity to show off the city to around 1,500 elite sports officials from around the world.
SportAccord unites representatives from the 104 international sports federations affiliated to GAISF (General Association of International Sports Federations) and the Denver-based sports commission will also seek to use the networking opportunity to attract other high-profile sports events.
Host bid success
In the past decade the city has won hosting bids for 24 of the 50 sports events targeted. It is also a finalist, among other events, for the NCAA women's basketball Final Four.
A bonus for a potential Denver bid is the fact that the HOK Sport Venue Event's office there is the master planner for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. HOK assisted Sochi bid officials to prepare their Olympic bid that was submitted to the IOC and also collaborated on Chicago's 2016 bid proposal.
The firm has worked on almost every Summer and Winter Olympics since 1996 and currently is also involved with London 2012.
Reports that the company is being prepared for a management buyout do not necessarily mean any significant change in operational focus.
A potential Denver Olympics would involve events being held along the Front Range and in the mountains.
So far Denver backers have been reluctant to be very vocal about a potential 2018 bid since Chicago is in the running for the 2016 summer Games. Clearly, the outcome of that decision could seriously influence Denver's chances for 2018.
If Denver goes forward it could be up against Munich, Germany, and a French bid. Three cities in France - Annecy, Nice and Grenoble - have expressed interest and the French Olympic Committee will announce its candidate city in March 2009.
Keywords · Denver · 2018 · Winter Olympics · Vancouver · HOK · Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce · Governor of Colorado · Bill Ritter · Mayor of Denver · John Hickenlooper
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Laura Walden ()
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