highpeaksdrifter
07-12-2007, 08:06 PM
Lake Placid making another push Officials plan to bid for 2012 Youth Olympic Winter Games
Lake Placid, famous as home of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics, hungers to play host to another. Lake Placid officials said they're interested in bidding for the 2012 Youth Olympic Winter Games, an event approved last week by the International Olympic Committee.
The Youth Olympics will bring together athletes ages 14 to 18 from around the world, starting with the Summer Games in 2010 (which Lake Placid isn't pursuing) and continuing with the Winter Games two years later. "The Lake Placid region is a perfect venue for (an event of) this size," said Sandy Treadwell, chairman of the nonprofit Lake Placid Regional Winter Sports Committee. "Lake Placid can certainly handle this in a great way and the (Olympic) facilities have been maintained by the state of New York over the years. We'd be very pleased to be the host of the first Winter Youth Games."
The IOC has yet to announce when it will open bidding for the 2012 Winter Games. The bid process already has begun for the 2010 Summer Games, with a decision on the host city expected by next February. The U.S. Olympic Committee hasn't announced whether it plans to nominate a city to host the Winter Youth Games. A USOC spokesman didn't respond to an e-mail seeking comment on Lake Placid's intentions. "We stand ready to assist whether in major or minor ways for the success of the first staging and any future stagings," USOC vice president Bob Ctvrtlik told the Chicago Tribune last week. Treadwell said Lake Placid could easily accommodate the 1,000 youth athletes expected for the Winter Games because the village already hosts the Empire State Winter Games, which attracts 1,200 to 1,300 athletes every year.
There is hope that a good job with the Youth Winter Games could enhance Lake Placid's chances of being awarded the traditional Winter Olympics again someday. "It would a wonderful event as a precursor to something larger," said Ted Blazer, president and CEO of the New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority, which manages the Lake Placid facilities. The cost of hosting the Youth Summer Olympics has been estimated at $30 million to $40 million. While there is no figure available for the Winter Games, Treadwell said it should be "considerably less" than $30 million because Lake Placid already has its facilities in place. New York has provided ORDA with more than $70 million for venue upgrades in the past decade, including $18 million toward a bobsled, luge and skeleton track on Mt. Van Hoevenberg that opened in 2000.
State Sen. Betty Little, whose six-county district includes Lake Placid, said luring the Winter Youth Olympics would help the area economy and promote the region. "This would be a perfect fit," she said. "You would be able to show off Lake Placid once again." Little said her constituents are eager to bring the Olympics back, in any form. "They'll be jumping on 2012," she said. "They love the Olympics and everything that has to do with them. There's so much Olympic spirit in the Lake Placid area."
Lake Placid, famous as home of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics, hungers to play host to another. Lake Placid officials said they're interested in bidding for the 2012 Youth Olympic Winter Games, an event approved last week by the International Olympic Committee.
The Youth Olympics will bring together athletes ages 14 to 18 from around the world, starting with the Summer Games in 2010 (which Lake Placid isn't pursuing) and continuing with the Winter Games two years later. "The Lake Placid region is a perfect venue for (an event of) this size," said Sandy Treadwell, chairman of the nonprofit Lake Placid Regional Winter Sports Committee. "Lake Placid can certainly handle this in a great way and the (Olympic) facilities have been maintained by the state of New York over the years. We'd be very pleased to be the host of the first Winter Youth Games."
The IOC has yet to announce when it will open bidding for the 2012 Winter Games. The bid process already has begun for the 2010 Summer Games, with a decision on the host city expected by next February. The U.S. Olympic Committee hasn't announced whether it plans to nominate a city to host the Winter Youth Games. A USOC spokesman didn't respond to an e-mail seeking comment on Lake Placid's intentions. "We stand ready to assist whether in major or minor ways for the success of the first staging and any future stagings," USOC vice president Bob Ctvrtlik told the Chicago Tribune last week. Treadwell said Lake Placid could easily accommodate the 1,000 youth athletes expected for the Winter Games because the village already hosts the Empire State Winter Games, which attracts 1,200 to 1,300 athletes every year.
There is hope that a good job with the Youth Winter Games could enhance Lake Placid's chances of being awarded the traditional Winter Olympics again someday. "It would a wonderful event as a precursor to something larger," said Ted Blazer, president and CEO of the New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority, which manages the Lake Placid facilities. The cost of hosting the Youth Summer Olympics has been estimated at $30 million to $40 million. While there is no figure available for the Winter Games, Treadwell said it should be "considerably less" than $30 million because Lake Placid already has its facilities in place. New York has provided ORDA with more than $70 million for venue upgrades in the past decade, including $18 million toward a bobsled, luge and skeleton track on Mt. Van Hoevenberg that opened in 2000.
State Sen. Betty Little, whose six-county district includes Lake Placid, said luring the Winter Youth Olympics would help the area economy and promote the region. "This would be a perfect fit," she said. "You would be able to show off Lake Placid once again." Little said her constituents are eager to bring the Olympics back, in any form. "They'll be jumping on 2012," she said. "They love the Olympics and everything that has to do with them. There's so much Olympic spirit in the Lake Placid area."