Reno/Tahoe Preps for U.S. Winter Olympic Bid

(ATR) For 17 years Reno/Tahoe has laid in wait for a Winter Olympic bid. The opportunity may finally be here.

Jon Killoran, CEO of the Reno/Tahoe Winter Games Coalition tells Around the Rings the U.S. Olympic Committee started outreach to three potential Olympic bids with Reno/Tahoe on the list--Salt Lake City and Denver round out the trio.

"Now that Los Angeles has been successful [for the 2028 Olympics] we’re thrilled that now the scope has turned to look at the Winter Olympic Games," Killoran said during the IF Forum in Lausanne. The coalition sponsored one of the breaks at the meeting being held at the Royal Savoy Hotel.

"The USOC has been pretty forthright about what they’re doing. They seem pretty interested in pursuing a future Winter Olympic bid. When that is is what I think they are deliberating."

The 2026 Olympic Winter games are next to be chosen by the IOC. So far there’s interest from Sion in Switzerland and 1988 host city Calgary. Voters in Germany and Austria have turned down proposals for 2026 bids. With Los Angeles selected for the 2028 Summer Games, the USOC has signaled that it will consider a winter Olympic bid, preferably for 2030 after Los Angeles. The IOC is supposed to elect a host city in 2019.

Of interest is whether the IOC will take the same course for 2026 as it did with the 2024 Games, selecting both 2026 and 2030 at the same time.

Killoran hailed the "exciting" new bid procedures from the IOC saying it allowed for a more thorough and helpful bid process.

"I think everybody’s taking a step back to look at that process and see how the decision-making process will play out," Killoran added saying there are currently no formal timelines from the USOC. For the 2026 Games, the IOC has requested applications next March.

Killoran says Reno/Tahoe has no preference for a 2026 or 2030 Winter Olympic bid.

"For us whenever is fine. We’re just happy to be at this standpoint."

The Reno/Tahoe Winter Games Coalition is a coalition of civic and sport leaders throughout Nevada and the Lake Tahoe area that has worked since 2003 to prepare for a potential Olympic bid. Reno is located in the state of Nevada and is roughly a fifteen-minute drive from the state of California. Lake Tahoe straddles both states.

Killoran said the group’s strongest message to be the U.S. bid: "we have an extremely proud Olympic heritage."

Squaw Valley hosted the 1960 Olympics and is within sight of Lake Tahoe. Every Winter Olympics several members of Team USA (and other national teams) live in Lake Tahoe.

If selected for an Olympic bid, Killoran said the major construction items are the ski jumping and sliding center. "Agenda 2020 has allowed us to take a fresh look at what are plans are…there’s been a growth of facilities" in the intervening years since the coalition’s start.

While there is no recent public opinion polling conducted, Killoran said they had gauged public sentiment "a few years ago" and found voters positive to an Olympic bid.

"There’s always been a positive insulation if you will of the Olympic Movement," Killoran said of the area’s Olympic views. In addition to a large number of supporters Killoran said they found "a decline in any negative feedback". Negative public opinion has sunk nearly a dozen winter and summer Olympic bids worldwide in recent years.

Reported by Ed Hula IIIin Lausanne.

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