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For 2022 Winter Games, USOC should get a Rocky Mountain high

Monte Meier, a five-time Paralympian, winning a national title at Vail, a ski mecca (Doug Pensinger / Getty Images)

Globetrotting by Philip Hersh

There is no doubt when and where the next Olympics in the United States should be.

Much more, in fact, than the city and region could have offered when they threw back the 1976 Olympics because a statewide referendum rejected a $5 million bond issue to finance the Winter Games 2 1/2 years after the International Olympic Committee chose Denver.

And now that the U.S. Olympic Committee has made the expected decision not to bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics, it is time for USOC officials to see if Denver's expressed interest in the 2022 Winter Games is sincere.

I know the USOC's mantra is there will be no bid for any Olympics before it can resolve the longstanding dispute with the IOC over revenue sharing. If no solution can be found before 2022 bids are due in 2013, there may never be one.

Assuming that money problem is ironed out and assuming Denver is in for both a dime and a lot of dollars, there would be no reason for the USOC to have a domestic bid process. It should simply begin working with Denver to have the best possible bid when the International Olympic Committee selects the 2022 host sometime in 2015.

But a partnership with the Air Force Academy to build that facility on its land in Colorado Springs would make it more attractive and useful. That would allow sliding athletes from the United States -- and the rest of the world -- to live at the nearby Olympic Training Center while training or competing on the run.

The 7,000-foot altitude would make it easier to keep the run frozen, even with Colorado's abundant sunshine. And it's a relatively easy drive from Denver, so the lower sections could be turned into a family fun ride when elite athletes weren't using it.

Making the training center available to foreign athletes (who could train for figure skating and short track at the World Arena in Colorado Springs) in the years before a Colorado Olympics would fit right into the USOC's new emphasis on improved international relations.

For long-track speedskating, why not either a temporary facility or one like the 2010 Olympic venue in Richmond, B.C., which since has become a multi-purpose sports and fitness center used for basketball, indoor soccer, hockey, badminton, indoor track, table tennis, volleyball, rowing and paddling, all of which can take place simultaneously?

2. Denver still was a low-energy cow town in the mid-1970s. I learned that while waiting for a taxi on a center city street during a Friday afternoon rush hour. Not a single cab, occupied or unoccupied, passed in a 10-minute span.

Now it is a gleaming city with vibrant downtown areas and arenas / stadiums hosting major league baseball, football, hockey and basketball teams, plus the facilities of Denver University.

And it has a major international airport (alas, seemingly in Kansas), with non-stop flights to Europe and easy connections to Asia through West Coast hubs. With the growth of Asian economies, it is not a stretch to imagine non-stops to Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo in the near future.

3. The USOC long has had a good working relationship with many elected officials in Denver and Colorado. That could help avoid the frictions that occurred between USOC leaders and bid officials in New York (2012) and Chicago (2016) after the USOC chose those cities to bid (in vain) for the Summer Olympics.

4. Could there be a better site for alpine skiing than Vail - Beaver Creek? The world championships took place there in 1999 and will again in 2015.

Vail is 100 miles from Denver, but nearly all is on I-70. Winter driving in the Rockies can be tricky, and snow has been known to close Vail Pass, but thousands make the trip nearly every weekend in the ski season.

Plus, there long has been talk of alternative transportation to Vail. The 1992 Albertville Olympics brought high-speed rail into the hub of the French Alps. Could a 2022 Denver Olympics do the same for Colorado, boosting its tourism industry?

5. Resorts closer to Denver could handle freestyle skiing, slopestyle and snow boarding. Winter Park (66 miles away) or Copper Mountain (77 miles) are possibilities. Amtrak's California Zephyr already has a stop near Winter Park; more trains presumably could be added on that line. Tracks from ski trains that ran into Winter Park until a few years ago still are used by freight traffic.

6. Steamboat Springs, which advertises itself as the home of 79 Olympians, is the obvious site for ski jumping and cross-country skiing. It already has ski jump hills that meet international ski federation standards. Steamboat's only drawback is being relatively remote -- 160 miles from Denver and about 90 from I-70.

7. A Winter OIympics would bring just as much benefit to the USOC as a Summer Games. Certainly, the TV revenue would be less, but the exposure and sponsor interest would probably be the same.

And, weather aside, the Winter Games are so much easier to stage than the Summer Games. Winter is a dinner party for eight. Summer is a dinner party for 1,000.

8. Although IOC voting for host cities is notoriously unpredictable and often swayed by filthy lucre, it seems likely the United States has little chance at a Summer Olympics until 2028 if, as expected, Paris wants to host 2024 to mark the centenary of its last Olympics.

The best Summer Games bet for the USOC would be to wait for 2032 and have Los Angeles bid to mark the centenary of its first Olympics. That's a long wait.

9. Even though many IOC members have long memories and a stunning ability to harbor old resentments, few are likely to hold Denver's Olympic history against a 2022 bid. (Plus, only five current IOC members were members in the 1970s, just two when Denver got and turned back the Games, which went to Innsbruck, Austria.)

Certainly, some will object about the distances involved. But nearly all recent Winter Games have been split between a city and relatively far-flung mountains. The 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, will be an exception, but the tradeoff there is mountains so low and so near the sea that weather could have a dramatic negative impact on alpine skiing.

(Salt Lake City actually was the perfect blend of city and nearby mountains, and a group there has shown interest in a 2022 bid. But it is hard to imagine the IOC returning just 20 years after the 2002 Winter Games, unless its members really mean what they say about keeping host city costs down, since Salt Lake already has the needed facilities.)

10. There is no guarantee Colorado residents won't have as mixed feelings about 2022 as they did about 1976, when both money and environmental concerns played into the referendum's defeat.

But in a state where ski tourism has become increasingly important and developed -- and, in this era of plane travel, Colorado is far more accessible to Europeans, South Americans and Asians than it was 35 years ago -- the global exposure from a Winter Games should be significant economically.

Expanded train service should be a selling point to environmentalists.

So why bother with a costly and time-consuming domestic competition? If Denver wants to bid and can show that a majority of Coloradans support the idea, the USOC need go only 70 miles up the road from its headquarters to find the country's next Olympic host.

10 Questions with Figure Skater Kim Yu-Na

South Korea's Kim Yu-na performs in the women's free-skating event at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships on April 30, 2011, in Moscow

Lexander Nemenov / AFP / Getty Images shareSouth Koreans call her Queen Yu-na. At just 20 years old this TIME 100 alum is a reigning Olympic champion, an ambassador for figure skating and a national hero. After winning gold in Vancouver, she devoted herself to the city of Pyeongchang's successful bid to host the 2018 Games. Now three sold-out ice shows later, she will head back from Seoul to Los Angeles for more training. She talked to TIME about loving her fans, hating Mondays and becoming her mother.

What was the first thought that crossed your mind when Pyeongchang was chosen for the 2018 Winter Olympics?
Relief. The Korean delegation worked so hard for 10 years to host the Olympics. I joined the team at the last minute, but the bid came to mean more when I saw from up close how much the rest of the delegation invested in it. I started thinking, "This really has to happen!" It could not be any other way.

Was the Olympics gold medal always your goal?
When I was little, I had never really expected to win such a big competition. For a long time, just skating in the Olympics had been my goal because not many Koreans had done it. But after doing well in junior and senior competitions, I started thinking about the Olympics gold medal, though it was fairly late in my career.(See Kim Yu-na and Asada Mao in TIME's top 10 figure-skating rivalries.)

What's your next goal?
I trained for a long time toward the Olympics. I was really exhausted after it was over, and rather than setting another goal, I just wanted to rest. More than physically resting, I wanted be free from the stress.

Last season, you mixed in motifs from Korean traditional music to your long program "Homage to Korea." Was that a bit of risk?
Yes, because to non-Asians, Chinese, Japanese and Korean music could easily sound the same. I was really concerned about how to express "Korea." I don't think it can be done in any one motion or gesture or song, so I tried to focus on my own emotions. In the end, I think the program was very modern, despite its use of traditional music.

Clearly, Korean fans adored it. How well was it received by the international judges and audience?
The choreographer [David Wilson] had suggested doing a Korean program several times, but I had always declined because I was worried about the global reception. But after the Olympics and the gold medal, I wanted to do something for the Korean fans who have given me so much attention and support. It was a present to them. Honestly, I don't think it spoke to the international judges as effectively.(See Kim Yu-na in the 2010 TIME 100.)

Your ice shows star figure skaters from around the world. Why do they go to Korea?
Korean audiences are amazing. The fans scream so loud, and that really surprises skaters when they first perform in my shows.

What do you think Korea needs to do in order to raise more Kim Yu-nas?
The number of figure skaters increased dramatically over a short time, but there aren't enough coaches and ice rinks for training. Even the rinks we have are open to the public more than half the day, leaving only a few hours early in the morning and late at night for skaters. What's worse, in the little time there is, the rinks have to be shared by figure skaters, speed skaters and hockey players. The ice conditions and the temperature are also not the best for training.

What qualities make you so successful?
I think I'm a born athlete. My coaches have told me my muscles and body structure are perfect for skating. I was born with a good instrument, maybe more so than the talent. I was lucky my coaches noticed early on and helped me develop that. A lot of people don't know they are born that way.

What gets you through the dreary training days?
I love weekends. Just like everyone else, I get to rest on weekends and go out with friends. I hate Mondays.

Your mother played a huge part in making your career. For a long time, she accompanied you to every practice and competition. What kind of mom would you like to be?
It's too soon to tell, but I don't think I could ever be like my mom. The sacrifice she made was incredible. But who knows, once I become a mom, I might be just like her.

S.Korea confirms world status with athletics event

HONG KONG — Hosting the 2011 world athletics championships in Daegu completes a prestigious treble for South Korea after the Olympic Games and the World Cup as the East Asian nation confirms its status as a major destination on the international sporting stage.

South Korea's big breakthrough came in 1988 when it hosted the Olympic Games in capital Seoul, followed 14 years later by holding the 2002 World Cup together with Japan.

The 13th IAAF World Championships will be held in a country buoyant after it last month trounced European rivals Munich and Annecy to win the right to host the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

After that victory, Chosun Ilbo, the best-selling daily, noted that after the 1988 Olympics, "people worldwide came to have a new image of South Korea as one of the world's most dynamic countries, not just as a strange nation torn by the Korean War."

"Now is the time for us to make the world realise that South Korea is not all about cellphones, shipbuilding and cars," it said.

South Korea, which has never won a medal at a world championships since they began in Helsinki in 1983, has modest ambitions in Daegu but anyone who seizes their chance can be guaranteed lasting fame in a nation hungry for sporting success.

The likes of figure skater Kim Yu-Na, Manchester United footballer Park Ji-Sung and swimmer Park Tae-Hwan are major names in the country of 49 million that features a thriving football league and a popular professional baseball set-up.

Just a year away from the London Olympics, South Korea will be hoping the championships featuring the cream of the world's athletes will switch the focus away from lingering tensions with nuclear-armed North Korea and recent deadly floods.

South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak said the successful bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics had boosted interest in sports in the country, adding that the event would be a major boost for Daegu, awarded hosting rights in 2007.

"A successful staging of this will lead to a successful hosting of the Pyeongchang Olympics," he said during a visit to Daegu stadium, according to Yonhap news agency.

A major economic and transport hub in the southeast of South Korea, Daegu, the country's fourth largest city with a population of more than 2.5 million, is no stranger to hosting major sporting events.

The stadium being used for the athletics hosted matches at the 2002 World Cup as well as the 2003 Summer Universiade and the annual Colorful Daegu Pre-Championship Meeting, held annually since 2005.

Olympic Park attractions

Although the Sochi Olympic Games will start in two and a half years, test competitions will be held at the future arenas, traces, and winter stadiums already in the autumn next year. The most compact Olympic park is being laid out in the Imeretin Valley.

The Central Stadium, ice arena for curling, winter sports palace, skating rink and small and large ice arenas are being constructed in the valley. The medical centre, the Olympic Village and hotels will be part of the coastal group. It will take only 20 minutes to visit all these facilities in the Olympic Park. This is the most compact project in the history of Olympic Games. The hills in Krasnaya Polyana where the second group of facilities is being built can be seen from here. The distance from the hills to the Black Sea is only 48 kilometers.

Winter Olympic Games near the seashore was a distinguishing feature in the Russian bid. The central stadium suits this concept. The two parts of its roof remind of a mountainous peak and a wave in the sea. The opening and closing ceremonies and medal awarding ceremonies of the 2014 Olympic Games will be held in the stadium, says Vladislav Sandursky, an official of the “Olympstroi” state corporation:

“The Central Stadium will take the longest time period to build. It will be the last facility to be commissioned at the Olympic Park in May 2013. This is the most labour-consuming stadium, which has to meet strict demands set by the organizing committee for holding the ceremony, so that it stays in the minds of people from all over the world,” Vladislav Sandursky said.

The Bolshoi Ice Palace where hockey matches will be held will be commissioned in May next year. It will have the capacity of 12,000 seats. According to the schedule, test competitions will be held in September of 2012.

The arena for figure skating and short-track skating, which is located in front of the Bolshoi Ice Palace, will attract most sport fans of this area. The building has been fully assembled, says chief engineer Sergei Kamin.

“We will do our best to carry out all decoration work before the winter. In November, we will start the construction of the icerink,” Sergei Kamin said.

The construction work is being strictly controlled by the International Olympic Committee. Representatives of national sport federations and specialists in maintenance often come to the park. The specialists will prepare the facilities for the competitions.

How to use these sport facilities after the Olympics is a different topic for the IOC and national Olympic committees. Several stadiums are being built so that they could be dismantled and taken to other cities. Among these are the Palace of Ice, the curling arena and the Maly Ice Palace.

The facilities that will be left in the Imeretin Valley can fulfill several functions. For one, the Bolshoi Ice Palace is described as sports and entertainment centre in the documents. It can be converted into a stadium where volleyball or boxing matches can be held. It can also be used as a cycling race track. The indoor skating track can be transformed into a trade and exhibition centre.

The Olympic Park has taken into account the demands of the FIFA. The Central Stadium will be used during the 2018 World Cup. Its capacity will be increased from 40,000 to 45,000 seats to meet the FIFA demand.