2018.
Flip your thickest desk calendar to that distant year, sports fans, and circle February. For now, circle it in pencil. But keep the pen handy: 2018 might prove to be Colorado’s date with Olympic destiny.
The Metro Denver Sports Commission is spanning the globe this summer to peddle the Front Range as a rising player and ready host for international sporting events, including the Winter Olympics.
With the U.S. Olympic Committee opting not to offer an American candidate to host the 2014 Winter Games, cold-weather, domestic dreams turn to 2018 – and some of those dreamers live in Denver.
“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,” said Rob Cohen, president of the Metro Denver Sports Commission.
Cohen traveled in June to three Swiss cities – Lausanne, Zurich and Thun – on a mission to boost Denver’s sports stature globally and build buzz for future event bids. He met with the international governing bodies for speed skating, skiing, ice hockey and cycling, he said, though he declined to go into detail about specific events.
Any city with Olympic designs must first lure and host a string of world championships to beef up its international pedigree, Olympic insiders say. Denver appears to be following that blueprint.
What’s more, the Metro Denver Sports Commission has hired an Olympic consultant, George Hirthler, the lead communications strategist for six previous Olympic bids – including the winning campaigns for Atlanta (1996), Beijing (2008) and Vancouver (2010).
“Our goal, regardless of an Olympic bid, is to become known as a sporting community that puts on world-class events,” Cohen said. “Our short-term focus is still to attract international events.
“As far as our long-term plans, we have certainly made it public that we have an Olympic exploratory committee.”
Cohen’s group had hoped to meet with the USOC in early August to present the work it had done to prepare for a potential Denver bid.
But within the murk of Olympic politics, the question of when to bid remains a slippery science. Last week, the International Olympic Committee chose London to host the 2012 Summer Games. That prompted the USOC to announce a fresh process to pick an American candidate for 2016. Because of its size and altitude, Denver is not considered a strong Summer Olympics candidate.
“We will pursue 2016, which means we will not be bidding for the 2014 Games,” USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said. “It’s next to impossible to have two U.S. cities bidding to host two separate Games at the same time.”
Still, Metro Denver Sports Commission vice chairman Steve Sander expects the USOC to “aggressively go after both 2016 and 2018.” He said he believes USOC leaders realize they made a tactical mistake by banking so heavily on New York’s unsuccessful 2012 campaign.
“They’re not going to get caught in that position again,” said Sander, who also heads Sander/GBSM, a Denver sports marketing firm.
Denver ultimately will have to soothe the lingering political rancor within the IOC, caused when Denver and Colorado voters decided to give back the 1976 Winter Games.
“People have long memories,” Sander said. “But I think it’s a new day. … You wouldn’t do this (again) with the school of public opinion against you.”
Staff writer Bill Briggs can be reached at 303-820-1720 or bbriggs@denverpost.com.
