(ATR) The possibility of a new bid for the Winter Olympics will be part of the buzz in the air as the U.S. Olympic Committee stages its annual Olympic Assembly.
More than 300 sports leaders, Olympic athletes and other denizens of the Olympic Movement are gathering in Colorado Springs for the two day meeting at the Broadmoor resort.
Chairman and IOC member Larry Probst is slated to deliver the state of the USOC address Thursday afternoon along with CEO Scott Blackmun. The two are likely to highlight the success of securing the 2028 Summer Olympics for Los Angeles after previous disappointments with Chicago for 2016 and New York for 2012.
With that objective achieved the team of Probst and Blackmun is also likely to tantalize with the first mention in years of an official interest in a Winter Games for the U.S. after Salt Lake City 2002.
Probst will preside over a meeting Friday of the USOC Board of Directors where the initial strategy will be launched. The prime question would be whether to consider bidding as early as 2026 or waiting until the flame goes out in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles 2028 chair Casey Wasserman will report to the board on Friday, his appearance now to become one of the certainties of USOC meetings for the next 11 years.
With the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang just four months away, Olympic speedskating gold medalist Apolo Ohno will host the evening, makinghis debut as a compere for the USOC.
Wasserman will deliver the keynote speech for the Awards Dinner that is the traditional close for the Assembly.
Mike Lenard, former U.S. team handball athlete, will receive the Olympic Torch Award which recognizes an individual who has positively impacted the U.S. Olympic Movement by promoting the Olympic Ideals. Lenard has been involved with the USOC for decades. Now as a lawyer he has been active on the International Council of Arbitration for Sport.
The Olympic Assembly is being held for the first time at the historic Broadmoor. A spokesman for the USOC says assistance from the Broadmoor and the El Pomar Foundation have made the meeting possible at the resort at the foot of Pike’s Peak.
Written and reported by Ed Hula.
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