Denver Winter Olympics committee forges ahead
The U.S. Olympic Committee’s decision to consider a bid for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games — ruling out 2026 — has not changed the Denver exploratory committee’s plan to decide the city’s stance soon, a spokeswoman said Friday.
That means community advisory committees will continue to meet in coming weeks as the Denver Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Exploratory Committee considers joining Salt Lake City, and possibly the Reno-Tahoe area, in the hunt for 2030. Salt Lake announced its intention to bid for that year’s Winter Games earlier this week.
“The work the exploratory committee has been conducting needs to be done in order to determine if Denver and Colorado should pursue a bid for a future Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, regardless of whether that is in 2026, 2030 or 2034,” said a statement issued by Ramonna Robinson.
The committee was reacting to reports that USOC Chairman Larry Probst made official the organization’s long-stated preference for a 2030 bid over 2026.
In large part, the USOC’s decision is based on Los Angeles’ hosting of the 2028 Summer Games, which gives that city priority on many financial arrangements in the years beforehand.
“It would make things extremely complicated from a financial standpoint with Los Angeles,” USOC Chairman Larry Probst said Friday, according to the Associated Press.
There’s another reason for cities such as Denver to decide on their intentions sooner rather than later.
Cities interested in hosting in 2026 must declare their interest by March 31. Though the International Olympic Committee’s normal process would give cities interested in 2030 about two more years of breathing room before they must commit, there’s still the possibility that the IOC could consolidate 2026 and 2030 bidding, awarding those games concurrently.
That is what happened with the 2024 and 2028 games, which were awarded to Paris and L.A., respectively, in September after both had originally bid for the 2024 games. The IOC made the unusual decision after other cities’ bids fizzled out.
“The exploratory committee will continue its dialogue with the USOC and IOC to determine relevant timelines and adjust accordingly,” Robinson’s statement says.