USOC won’t bid for 2022

DENVER, Colorado - Agence France-Presse

USOC Chief Executive Scott Blackmun (R) speaks at a conference in Dallas. AFP photo

The United States Olympic Committee won’t be bidding for the 2022 Winter Games, deciding instead to explore other options that could include trying to land the 2024 or 2026 Olympics.

“Hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the United States is of paramount importance to us,” USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun said on July 3.

“We want to submit a bid that is viable and that adds value to the worldwide Olympic Movement.

“We believe a 2024 or 2026 bid will give us the best chance of achieving those ends, and therefore will not submit a bid to host the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.”

Blackmun said that the USOC board also voted to form a committee to look at possible bids for either the 2024 Summer Games or 2026 Winter Olympics.

“We are firmly committed to submitting the most viable candidate city possible and to making a meaningful contribution to the worldwide Olympic and Paralympic Movements,” Blackmun added. “We believe that exploring a bid for the 2024 or 2026 Games will give us the greatest opportunity for success.” It has been 10 years since the Olympics have been held on US soil. The Americans last hosted the Winter Olympics in 2002 in Salt Lake City and the Summer Games in 1996 in Atlanta.

Their last two attempts to land Olympics ended badly. The US put in a bid for New York to host the 2012 Games but lost out to London. Chicago finished last in an attempt to land the 2016 Summer Games, which went to Brazil.

The 2014 Winter Games will be held in Sochi, Russia, and four years later they are scheduled for Pyeongchang, South Korea. The candidates for the 2020 Summer Olympics are Istanbul, Tokyo and Madrid.