Olympians playing celeb golf talk about Games in Tahoe-Reno
By Dan Hinxman, Reno Gazette-Journal
STATELINE — The three Winter Olympians playing in this week’s American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament at Edgewood Tahoe all say Reno-Tahoe is ready to host the Winter Games again.
“There’s no better place,” said Dan Jansen, who won his lone Olympic medal, a gold, in the 1,000-meter speedskating at the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, Norway. “I think it would be fantastic to bring it back to the U.S., and this would be a great place.”
The U.S. last hosted the Winter Games at Salt Lake City in 2002. The Reno-Tahoe Winter Games Coalition is pursuing a possible bid for the 2022 Winter Games. The International Olympic Committee awarded the 2018 Games to Pyeongchang, South Korea two weeks ago. The 2022 decision will be made in the summer of 2015.
“I think it would be outstanding,” said Mike Eruzione, the captain of the 1980 gold medal-winning U.S. hockey team. “This place is absolutely spectacular. It’s a great place for people to come and enjoy the Olympic Games and the scenery, so I think it would be awesome. I would really look forward to seeing that.”
One of the Olympians believes Reno-Tahoe would be better suited to host the Games than what appears to be its chief U.S. rival, Denver — at least from a venue-proximity basis.
“I’d say (Reno and Denver are) comparable,” five-time Olympic skiing medalist Bode Miller said. “(In Denver) you’d have to have the (ski) racing in Beaver Creek or Vail, and that’s a drag when it’s two, two and a half hours from the main Olympic Village up to where you would have some of the premiere events like skiing. I’d say it’s a little more convenient here. Reno’s only an hour away (from the skiing venues).”