If Colo. makes Winter Olympic bid, it could be game-changer
By Jason Blevins, Denver Post
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. — Could we? Should we? And just how would the Winter Olympics in Colorado look?
The committee tasked with weighing support for a possible Colorado Olympic bid visited the state’s Olympic breeding ground last week. Beneath almost 100 athlete-tagged flags draped throughout Steamboat Springs’ fabled Olympian Hall, exploratory committee member Steve McConahey shared a vision with what he called the community’s “thought leaders,” a collection of business owners and representatives from the local government, chamber, ski area and Forest Service.
“We are creating a new paradigm about how you can do the Olympics,” said McConahey, a former Denver Metro Sports Commission chaiman and Vail Valley local who served on a committee that proposed Colorado as a host for the 1998 Winter Games.
While the committee is officially only exploring the possibility of hosting the 2030 — or maybe even the 2026 — Olympics, when McConahey talks, it sounds like a pitch.
If Colorado can host a privately financed Olympics without government subsidies and guarantees, McConahey said, more cities around the world could see a new path toward hosting a Winter Games.
