On the Scene - Reno/Tahoe Keeps Squaw Valley Flame Burning

(ATR) On the final day of the Lausanne Summit, the story of how a Winter Games 50 years ago lives on is the inspiration for a new generation of Olympic dreamers.

Hawley MacLean, vice chair of the Reno Tahoe Winter Games Coalition, told delegates at the annual Lausanne Summit that the 1960 Squaw Valley Olympics are still driving a legacy of inspiration.

With a talk titled "The Best Little Legacy in the World" (Reno’s famous real motto is "The Best Little City in the World") MacLean explained how the area’s sport offerings have multiplied beyond the ski slopes since the 1960 Winter Games.

While the snows of winter draw multitudes of skiers and boarders, the warmer months now mean rodeo, air racing and events in Olympic sports like fencing and athletics.

MacLean says while the Winter Games Coalition he leads wants to land another Winter Olympics (2026 and beyond), the group is keen on pushing for year-round sports events as well as encouraging fitness programs for young people and Olympic Day events every year around the June 23 anniversary of the founding of the IOC.

All of this, MacLean noted, is to make people healthier and keep up momentum for a new Winter Olympic bid.

Also taking a turn during the Reno presentation was Olympian (1972/76) Gary Hall Sr. who spoke about World Fit, a program to get young people walking as a means to fitness. Reno is one of the cities where schools are involved with organizing their students to walk. World Fit was started five years ago by the U.S. Olympians Association.

The two-day Lausanne Summit, the fifth, drew about 70 delegates from around the globe – minus Africa and South America. The summit is the main project the World Union of Olympic Cities. This year’s theme was centered on social legacies from the Games.

The WUOV was established in 2004 by the cities of Lausanne and Athens to foster dialogue and exchange between cities which have hosted the Olympics or are future hosts. This year the summit attracted 16 cities which have hosted Olympics – Amsterdam the most distant in the past, London and Vancouver the most recent.

Delegates from 14 cities hoping to bid for the Games were at the 2012 summit. For the 2020 race, Madrid opted out, while Istanbul and Tokyo both sent representatives.

Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov attended on behalf of Sochi.

The 2013 summit will be held again in Lausanne, while the 2014 edition is set for a return to Beijing, host of the 2010 meeting.

Written and reported in Lausanne by Ed Hula

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