KCRag Forum

I know that this sounds extremly out of the ordinary.  Kansas City would be good for the summer olympics in my opinion.  We have all the room that would be needed for opening/closing ceremonies.  I also think that the only problem would be getting people to KC b/c our airport isn't that big, but that could be fixed.  The only other problem would be hotel rooms, but i think that, could also be solved to.  If a town with a population of a mere 800,000 then you think that KC, could host the Olympics, especially since the games wouldn't be held here for another ten years or so which would leave all of the venues to be built.  Also the population would be big enough then to suppor the games. I think the population would be around, what, 200,000-300,000 more people. 
Also with the attractions that are flourishing in downtown and village west would just be another draw to the area.

I doubt it. How many other American cities are there that are at least comparable or superior to KC?

There are no mountains nearby. We need mountains, even for the summer games.

We don't need mountains for the summer games. There are no mountains near New York or San Fran and they both bid for the games. Where are the mountains near London, site of the 2012 games?

But c'mon, this is beyond pipe dream. The amount of hotel rooms you need for the Winter Games pales to the number of hotel rooms you need for the Summer Games. The Summer Games are HUGE. No way we have the infrastructure to handle it.

Also, they are a huge financial loser for the host city.

We can't even get a stadium bulit for the Chiefs..  Can you imagine getting one built for the Olympics (and NO Arrowhead would not work!! Even with the Roof.)

KCMax wrote: There are no mountains near New York or San Fran and they both bid for the games. Where are the mountains near London, site of the 2012 games?

What!?

Have you heard of the Catskills? The Adirondacks? The Coast Range in SF? The mountains in Wales?

These are all mountains, and KC doesn't have them any. Not within 600 miles.

I agree that the idea of a KC Olympics is rather preposterous - We have zero international brand name recognition.  Atlanta was a stretch - how many Europeans knew Atlanta even existed before the games.

Out of curiousity though - what exactly do you need the mountains for other than maybe the Kayaking?  Mountain biking? 

The Ozarks are comparable to the Welsh mountains, and a similar distance from the city.  We would need several new, big hotels, and there wouldn't enough business to support them after the games.  But there is always the idea of co-hosting with St. Louis, facillitated by high speed rail.  Charlie Wheeler's dream has long been to do that with a Missouri World's Fair.

Yeah, those. I'm sure there are other events, but those are the ones that come to mind. I suppose they could simulate the necessary terrain, but it'd be a first.

i've always thought it would be awesome if, in 30 years or so, the united states made a "midwest" bid for the summer olympics.  it would require billions of dollars of investments in rapid trains from city to city, but you could go Chicago-KC-Omaha pretty easily.  maybe include milwaukee in there too if you wanted, or st. louis if we had to  .  but that would be some seriously awesome olympics.

bahua wrote: Yeah, those. I'm sure there are other events, but those are the ones that come to mind. I suppose they could simulate the necessary terrain, but it'd be a first.

They built a man-made kayaking course for Athens.  I would think some south missouri stream could be altered to fit the bill - just let a little extra water out of the dam for a few weeks.    Of course this doesn't change my overall belief that it is rediculous to even discuss it here.  

Yeah, the Olympics are *way* too big for KC.

LenexatoKCMO wrote: I agree that the idea of a KC Olympics is rather preposterous - We have zero international brand name recognition.  Atlanta was a stretch - how many Europeans knew Atlanta even existed before the games.

Out of curiousity though - what exactly do you need the mountains for other than maybe the Kayaking?  Mountain biking? 

how many americans knew of turin?

shaffe wrote: how many americans knew of turin?

Or Nagano, Lillehamer, etc.  But the summer games usually seem to be in big, well-known cities more so than the winter games.

shaffe wrote: how many americans knew of turin?

Big difference - the winter olympics have always tended to be in smaller more obscure mountain towns - lillihamer, lake placid, etc.  For the Summer games, they are looking for places like Paris, London, Tokyo, Beijing, Barcelona.

And for the record, most Americans don't know where California is, much less Turin - whats your point. 

What?! Turin is a major city, famous for many things. I had definitely heard of one of Italy's largest cities before the olympics were held there. I think it's probably the biggest city to host the winter games since... I don't know.

People not knowing of Turin would probably coincide with a lot of other cranial deficiencies.

dangerboy wrote: Or Nagano, Lillehamer, etc.  But the summer games usually seem to be in big, well-known cities more so than the winter games.

Yeah--totally.  With so many other large cities out there, KC will never get it if it maintains it's current position among them.

Scraped from Wiki:

List of modern Summer Olympic Games

    * 1896 - Games of the I Olympiad - Athens, Greece
    * 1900 - Games of the II Olympiad - Paris, France
    * 1904 - Games of the III Olympiad - St. Louis, Missouri, United States
    * 1906 - Intercalated Games - Athens, Greece
    * 1908 - Games of the IV Olympiad - London, United Kingdom
    * 1912 - Games of the V Olympiad - Stockholm, Sweden
    * 1916 - Games of the VI Olympiad - Berlin, Germany - Cancelled due to World War I
    * 1920 - Games of the VII Olympiad - Antwerp, Belgium
    * 1924 - Games of the VIII Olympiad - Paris, France
    * 1928 - Games of the IX Olympiad - Amsterdam, Netherlands
    * 1932 - Games of the X Olympiad - Los Angeles, California, United States
    * 1936 - Games of the XI Olympiad - Berlin, Germany
    * 1940 - Games of the XII Olympiad - Helsinki, Finland - Cancelled due to World War II
    * 1944 - Games of the XIII Olympiad - London, United Kingdom- Cancelled due to World War II
    * 1948 - Games of the XIV Olympiad - London, United Kingdom
    * 1952 - Games of the XV Olympiad - Helsinki, Finland
    * 1956 - Games of the XVI Olympiad - Melbourne, Australia / Stockholm, Sweden (Equestrian events)
    * 1960 - Games of the XVII Olympiad - Rome, Italy
    * 1964 - Games of the XVIII Olympiad - Tokyo, Japan
    * 1968 - Games of the XIX Olympiad - Mexico City, Mexico
    * 1972 - Games of the XX Olympiad - Munich, West Germany (now Munich, Germany)
    * 1976 - Games of the XXI Olympiad - Montréal, Quebec, Canada
    * 1980 - Games of the XXII Olympiad - Moscow, Soviet Union (now Moscow, Russia)
    * 1984 - Games of the XXIII Olympiad - Los Angeles, California, United States
    * 1988 - Games of the XXIV Olympiad - Seoul, South Korea
    * 1992 - Games of the XXV Olympiad - Barcelona, Spain
    * 1996 - Games of the XXVI Olympiad - Atlanta, Georgia, United States
    * 2000 - Games of the XXVII Olympiad - Sydney, Australia
    * 2004 - Games of the XXVIII Olympiad - Athens, Greece
    * 2008 - Games of the XXIX Olympiad - Beijing, China / Sha Tin, Hong Kong, China (Equestrian events)
    * 2012 - Games of the XXX Olympiad - London, United Kingdom

bahua wrote: What?! Turin is a major city, famous for many things. I had definitely heard of one of Italy's largest cities before the olympics were held there. I think it's probably the biggest city to host the winter games since... I don't know.

People not knowing of Turin would probably coincide with a lot of other cranial deficiencies.

Since Salt Lake City.    I'm glad it's in Turin--I had never heard of it before.  But I like that because I get to learn about it.

Salt Lake is way smaller than Turin. The cities themselves have about a 5:1 size ratio, and the metro areas have about a 2:1 size ratio. Both ratios favor Turin.

Just to make it clear, Turin has a population of about 900,000, and 1.7 million in the metro area.

bahua wrote: Salt Lake is way smaller than Turin. The cities themselves have about a 5:1 size ratio, and the metro areas have about a 2:1 size ratio. Both ratios favor Turin.

Just to make it clear, Turin has a population of about 900,000, and 1.7 million in the metro area.

Ah--you're right.  Sorry, I glanced at the Metro of Salt Lake and the city pop. of Turin.  I need to get to Europe.