Top Olympic Bid Stories of 2010: #9 USOC Won't Bid For 2020 Olympic Games

The USOC will pass on a bid for the 2020 Olympic Games

GamesBids.com presents the third annual Top Ten list of Olympic Bid Stories for 2010.  These stories impacted the course of Olympic bids, or the Olympic bid process, and formed interesting plotlines for the year.  We'll run them down from 10th to 1st during the holiday season.

Top Olympic Bid Stories of 2010: #9 USOC Won't Bid For 2020 Olympic Games 

In February, recently appointed United States Olympic Committee (USOC) CEO Scott Blackmum said "unless we get some signs from the IOC, I think it's highly unlikely we would mount a bid on our own initiative". 

A USOC spokesperson confirmed that no bid was being considered for 2020, ruling out a possible third straight U.S. campaign to host the Summer Olympic Games.  2020 was considered an open window of opportunity for a U.S. bid since the last North American Summer Games host will have been 24 years prior in Atlanta.

U.S. cities had fared no better than fourth place in previous bids:  New York lost it’s 2012 bid to London – finishing fourth out of five cities; and last year Chicago lost it’s quest for the 2016 Games suffering an embarrassing first-round knockout in a competition eventually won by Rio de Janeiro.

Many insiders blamed U.S bid failures on the strained relationship between the USOC and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) due to disagreements on revenue sharing arrangements and a proposed Olympic television network in the U.S.  USOC officials will spend some time focussing on improving their relationships with the IOC.

A bid for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games hasn’t been ruled out.  Among potential applicants for these Games are Reno-Tahoe and Denver.

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