USOC facility may move
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – With the New Year on the horizon and the 2008 Beijing Games about seven months away, the U.S. Olympic Committee is taking its time deciding whether to relocate its Colorado Springs headquarters.
Relocation proposals have been submitted by Colorado Springs officials and leaders from an unspecified number of cities. They’re being evaluated by a USOC management team, which will make a recommendation to an 11-person board of directors that’s chaired by Peter Ueberroth.
“We’re analyzing proposals,” USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said. “In some cases, we have gone back and asked for additional information. We still have not established a deadline by which we will make a final decision, nor have we scheduled any conference call or meeting with our board to present our recommendation.”
Seibel confirmed that Colorado Springs, home of the USOC since 1978, remains in contention. He declined comment when asked about Denver and other cities. In October, a Chicago business publication reported USOC real estate consultant James Didion toured downtown offices in the Windy City.
To stay in Colorado Springs, the USOC wants 90,000 square feet of free office space and 200 housing units for athletes who train here. It also wants 40,000 square feet of space in a former Colorado Springs Utilities building that would house some of the 20 national governing bodies of Olympic sports that are headquartered in the city.
Table tennis reform
A five-person Initial Nominating and Governance Committee has been appointed to select the new board of directors for Colorado Springs-based USA Table Tennis.
The INGC is chaired by Chris Vadala, the USOC’s senior director of sport partnerships. The other four members are Jill Chalmers, a partner at Denver-based law firm Holme Roberts & Owen; Bob Fox, a professor at Metropolitan State University; Clint Kofford, the USOC’s manager of learning and leadership development; and Jasna Reed, a four-time Olympian in table tennis.
The INGC was formed in response to the governance guidelines recommended by the USOC earlier this year. After a new board is in place, new bylaws will be adopted.
Taekwondo tournament
More than 200 athletes began competition Saturday at the World Junior Championships Open, a single-elimination tournament at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
The top four finishers (per gender) in 10 weight classes advance to the world junior team fight-off April 4 in Des Moines, Iowa. The World Junior Championships are May 8-11 in Izmir, Turkey.