The Olympic Games are political plutonium.<\/p>\n
Since 2014, voters and politicians in Boston, Budapest, Calgary, Hamburg, Oslo and Krakow have shot down bids for the games. It\u2019s a global revolt powered by images of abandoned bobsled tracks, empty stadiums and blown budgets in the tens of billions of dollars.<\/p>\n
In Denver, citizen organizers have launched a campaign that would limit the region\u2019s play for the 2030 Winter Games. The Olympics already have become a symbol for challengers of Mayor Michael Hancock\u2019s administration in the upcoming election. Gov.-elect Jared Polis has said the games \u201cwould make things worse, not better,\u201d something fun \u201cfor millionaires\u201d that he would support only \u201cif somebody else pays for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
And yet, oddly enough, some of Colorado\u2019s most prominent people smell an opportunity in unpopularity: Could Denver and the state negotiate their way to a new kind of games without spending a public dollar?<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually, they will run out of cities that want to host (the games). They\u2019re running out of them now,\u201d said Rob Cohen, the financial CEO who\u2019s leading the Olympic exploratory committee launched a year ago by Hancock and Gov. John Hickenlooper.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur proposal is to change the model. If they\u2019re interested in doing that, we\u2019re interested in talking to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
A final decision on the site of the 2030 Games is still years away, but the unconventional plan for a Colorado-hosted games is approaching a crucial vote: U.S. Olympic Committee leaders recently visited Denver and Salt Lake City, and they soon will decide which of the two cities to support in the international selection process.<\/p>\n
And with few global competitors emerging, the U.S. candidate may have an open lane to the games.<\/p>\n
To read the rest of the story,\u00a0go to DenverPost.com.<\/a><\/p>\n Olympic pitch: Maybe it\u2019s Colorado\u2019s time<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n