ICYMI: Denver Voters Want Say-So for Olympic Bid; Minsk 2019 Tickets

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Denver Voters Want Say-So for Olympic Bid

That’s strike two for Denver.

Forty-seven years after a statewide referendum forced the Colorado capital to give back the 1976 Olympic Winter Games, Denver citizens faced another Olympic issue and again voted thumbs down.

Actually, they checked the box for "yes," but that’s just the way the ordinance was written., Denver voters overwhelmingly opted to prohibit officials from funding future Olympic bids with public money or resources without voter approval.

Among nearly 150,000 ballots, the margin was 79.23 percent in favor of Proposition 302, with 20.77 percent against. By 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night, there were 106,302 "yes" votes, 27,874 "no" votes and 13,891 abstained.

Backers began lobbying for the ordinance last year while Denver was among three finalists to become the U.S. bid city for 2030. By the time the U.S. Olympic Committee chose Salt Lake City in December (following the withdrawal of Reno-Tahoe), Prop 302 had picked up enough steam to remain an issue.

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Fans Snap Up Tickets as Minsk 2019 Opening Looms

Russians are the biggest foreign buyers of tickets for the Minsk European Games.

Organizers of the European Olympic Committees flagship multisports event confirm that around 130,000 tickets have so far been sold for the June 21-30 event in the Belarusian capital.

Of that number, about 15 percent have been bought by sports fans outside Belarus, with Russia notching the largest proportion of foreign ticket sales to date, according to news agency BelTA.

Minsk European Games Organizing Committee (MEGOC) is currently putting the final touches to Games preparations. An opening ceremony dress rehearsal is set to take place at Dinamo Stadium on June 19.

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German 2036 Olympic Bid Said Unthinkable

Plans for a bid from Germany for the 2036 Olympics, the Centennial of the 1936 Games in Berlin, are "unthinkable", says Interior Minister Horst Seehofer.

Seehofer, whose portfolio includes sport, says he goes along with a proposal from the Rhein and Ruhr region of the country for a 2032 Olympic bid.

But if that bid fails to progress, Seehofer says a second attempt to bid for 2036 would create "unspeakable international debate".

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