Cincinnati has traditionally had an undeserved reputation for underachieving. "When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it's always twenty years behind the times," Mark Twain said. And even though the veracity of this quote is highly questionable, naysayers still love to parrot it.
In the late 1990s, though, a group of ambitious leaders in the Queen City, led by a PR man named Nick Vehr, attempted to bring the 2012 Olympic Games to Cincinnati. Inspired by the overall success of the games hosted a few years earlier in Atlanta, Vehr and his team felt the same could happen in Southwest Ohio. The Cincinnati Olympic bid committee, officially Cincinnati 2012 Inc., was facing a tough job. Several challenges lay ahead.
The first issue was finding enough suitable venues. For that, there was a three-pronged solution. The first was to use existing stadiums and arenas. The second involved using facilities in neighboring cities like Dayton, Columbus, and even Cleveland. The third was to build new ones if necessary.
Holding some Olympic events outside of Greater Cincinnati wasn’t all that far-fetched. Most of the events at the Atlanta games were held in the metro area. Some, though, were held in Columbus, GA, in the southwest part of the state. Savannah, on the Atlantic coast, was also utilized. Birmingham, AL, Washington, D.C., and the Florida cities of Tampa, Orlando, and Miami also hosted events.
In addition to using Riverfront Stadium (then Cinergy Stadium), or its replacement, planners also sought to use Firstar Center (formerly Riverfront Coliseum, now Heritage Bank Center), Paul Brown Stadium, and even the Cincinnati Gardens. There was also a plan to put a dome on UC’s Nippert Stadium. The university’s other venues would also be used.
Additionally, a huge Olympic village, including an 80,000 seat stadium, would have been built immediately west of Longworth Hall in Queensgate. After the games, the stadium would have been reconfigured into a smaller venue, possibly for an expansion team in the then three-year-old Major League Soccer.
Cincinnati Olympic 2012 Inc. raised over $5.5 million but was confronted with several issues beyond its control, one of which was the riots in spring 2001. While things had calmed down, many said the situation would give the U.S. Olympic Committee pause.
Another problem was Issue 3, which passed a few years earlier. That measure amended the city's charter and prohibited extending legal protection to homosexuals. Today, it’s hard to believe that such a thing was possible, but back then it did happen.
Officials in Atlanta had faced a similar problem when they were planning for the 1996 games. Neighboring Cobb County had passed a resolution condemning the “gay lifestyle.” In response, Atlanta organizers re-routed the path of the Olympic torch and moved the site of the volleyball contests out of Cobb County and out to Athens.
Even without those issues, transportation and lodging became areas of concern. Hotels and other lodgings could be built in time for the games. However, moving people around greater Cincinnati, and to outlying venues in Cleveland, Dayton, and Columbus, was a bigger challenge.
The city’s prospects took another hit when it was reported in August by the Washington Post that “the IOC will never again award the games to another second-tier U.S. city like Atlanta.'” Ouch for Atlanta, and not great news for the bidding cities of Dallas/Ft. Worth, Tampa/Orlando, Houston, and of course, Cincinnati.
In October, the ax finally fell as the United States Olympic Committee took the first step to name its candidate to play host to the 2012 Summer Olympics whittling down the roster of hopefuls to New York, Baltimore/Washington, San Francisco, and Houston. Cincinnati, along with Los Angeles, Tampa/Orlando, and Dallas/Ft. Worth was all eliminated. London, England was the eventual winner.
Whether or not it was accurate at the time, the notion that the IOC would only focus on large, international cities to host future summer games turned out to be true. In addition to London, subsequent games were awarded to Rio de Janeiro (2016), Tokyo (2020), Paris (2024), and Los Angeles (2028). Oddly, the 2032 games were awarded to Brisbane, Australia. No doubt a fine town, but not necessarily the first city one thinks of as international in that part of the world. Who knows? Cincinnati’s Olympic dreams may yet be realized.
131 comments
Cindy Jason
HOW TO GET YOUR EX HUSBAND BACK HELP OF DR KACHI CALL NUMBER +1 (209) 893-8075
God did it for me again with the help of Dr Kachi with his love spell to get my husband back. we divorce 3months ago and since things become so hard for me because I love my husband so much, But he was chatting on me with another woman and he always goes to party every night my husband doesn’t care about me whenever he get back at night he will be beating me up with no reason, I cry every night and day to get my husband back to his normal love and affection that he give to me before. but nothing was working out for me I try my best I left him with my kids but I couldn’t sleep at night without thinking about my husband, then one day I was reading a new online about our politics and I see a comment about Dr Kachi how he restored broken relationship back and marriage, i didn’t believe in love spell at the first place, then i have to make further research about Dr Kachi I opened his website I can’t believe what I saw a great man helping people return their lover back and being happy in relationship again. I went fast and contacted Dr Kachi to help me restore my marriage back, after I provided the required needed to cast the love spell, the next day my husband come back to me and apologies for him leaving me and the kids Dr Kachi made me the happiest woman on earth I am so happy, I do appreciate your kind help bring my husband home, you can also contact him and seek for help in break up in married Via Text Number Call: +1 (209) 893-8075 Website: https://drkachispellcaster.wixsite.com/my-site Email drkachispellcast@gmail.com
Christopher Morris
I met my wife when I was working and living in Alaska. Ever since we got married, it has been all good till she decided to go for a summit in another state where she met someone who became closer to her and eventually he eloped with her. All my efforts to get back home to me was all in vain and her family did their best to reunite us but nothing worked. Just like everyone else, I came in contact with Dr Isikolo and he eventually did wonders and now my wife is back to me. It was revealed that she was hypnotized by the guy who eloped with her. I am glad I never let my emotions get the best of me to have ended my marriage with her. Dr Isikolo is a strong spell caster and trust him when he says the results will manifest just after 48 hours. Contact him now if you need any help email: isikolosolutionhome@gmail.com or text him on WhatsApp him on +2348133261196
Trudy Morris
I never knew I could get my fiancé back to me until I contacted Dr Isikolo who helped me. I had a terrible misunderstanding with my man and we went different ways. I was down emotionally and knew not what to do to help the situation. So I got to know about Dr Isikolo. I contacted him and got him to help with my problems. He told me all that I needed to know and understood and I complied with procedures and he eventually fix the problem for me and now I and my fiancé are back together and I know we will get married soon. It won’t have been possible if Dr Isikolo didn’t help me as promised. The result of his work surely manifest after 48 hours and it 100% guaranteed. Its visible for me to see the effect of the result of everything he did for me and truly the love and affection between i and my fiancé is restored back fully and it gladdens my heart that i didn’t loose him to anyone out there. He can as well help you if you reach out to him now. Text him on WhatsApp him on +2348133261196 or email: isikolosolutionhome@gmail.com
Jason Oswald
I lost my marriage after 2 years and it was a horrible experience for me. My wife left me and my son and everything happened beyond my control and I never knew few people around me engineered my wife and turned her against me just because I choose to build my family and focus more on it. I had to seek help because I know I did not do anything to have my marriage crashed. Dr Isikolo helped me and a lot was revealed to me on what transpired. He cast a love reunion spell that bonded my wife and I back together and the whole evil my family did against me was revealed. Am thankful that my home is back more happier than ever and all the appreciation goes to Dr Isikolo as he indeed fixed my problems just after 48 hours. email: isikolosolutionhome@gmail.com or text him on WhatsApp him on +2348133261196
Christopher Morris
I met my wife when I was working and living in Alaska. Ever since we got married, it has been all good till she decided to go for a summit in another state where she met someone who became closer to her and eventually he eloped with her. All my efforts to get back home to me was all in vain and her family did their best to reunite us but nothing worked. Just like everyone else, I came in contact with Dr Isikolo and he eventually did wonders and now my wife is back to me. It was revealed that she was hypnotized by the guy who eloped with her. I am glad I never let my emotions get the best of me to have ended my marriage with her. Dr Isikolo is a strong spell caster and trust him when he says the results will manifest just after 48 hours. Contact him now if you need any help email: isikolosolutionhome@gmail.com or text him on WhatsApp him on +2348133261196
Leave a comment
This site is protected by hCaptcha and the hCaptcha Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.