Tahoe Being Considered for Future Winter Olympic Bid

The Reno Tahoe Winter Games Coalition has announced it has received an invitation on behalf of the Reno-Lake Tahoe region from the United States Olympic Committee to take part in an accelerated process to select the next United States city to represent the country in a future Winter Olympic bid competition.

The coalition says the USOC did not specify the year targeted to host this future Olympic Winter Games, but the USOC made the formal invitation to the RTWGC, which representing the area’s interests in Olympic-related matters.

The invitation includes a workbook, seeking detailed information on a variety of bid categories and factors, with a deadline of November 9, 2018 for the submission of responses to the workbook.

“This invitation is an affirmation of all the inspired time and effort contributed by so many over the past fifteen years to return the Olympic rings to our area,” says RTWGC Board Chairman Brian Krolicki.

The Winter Games were held at Squaw Valley in 1960.

Krolicki continues, “We have always believed that the Reno-Tahoe region offers a very unique and exciting opportunity to welcome the world’s Olympic Community, especially its elite winter athletes, while creating long-lasting benefits for our communities. We are exceedingly proud that our collective and sustained Olympic related efforts have been recognized by the USOC, and are delighted to be one of three cities considered capable of hosting a future Olympic Winter Games in the United States.”

The RTWGC says it is reviewing the workbook, saying it will only proceed if doing so makes sense for the entire region and has a viable business model.

“From the start, we have asserted that a Winter Games bid must make economic, environmental and social sense,” said Jon Killoran, RTWGC Chief Executive Officer. “We are proud to be recognized by the USOC as worthy of this opportunity, and we shall review the requirements set forth in the USOC workbook through the lens of ensuring that we can satisfy our firm commitment to these principles. Timing is also a key component, both on the home front, as well as the Olympic Games bid situation from cycle to cycle.”

2002 Olympic Winter Games host Salt Lake City and Denver are the other two cities invited to participate in this process.

RTWGC leadership attends sports conferences, working to bring elite sports competitions and events to the Reno-Tahoe region and the state of Nevada.