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Charlotte put itself on the map when it successfully hosted the National Democratic Convention in September 2012. Next step… the Olympics?

Charlotte’s mayor Anthony Foxx, together with the mayors of 34 other cities, received a letter from the United States Olympic Committee intended to gauge interest in hosting the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

Given the stringent list of qualifications, many of the cities will be virtually disqualified from the race. And while Charlotte fulfills some of the requirements, hosting the Olympics is about as likely to happen as a snowstorm in July. But, as every losing Academy Awards actor will say, ‘it is an honor to be nominated’.

The cities having received the same letter range in size from metropolises such as New York City and Chicago to small towns like Rochester. Both New York City and Chicago have previously made a bid to host Olympic Games to the tune of upwards of $10 million. New York City came in 4th in its bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics while Chicago suffered a stinging first round loss in its 2016 Olympic bid, and has already expressed no interest in submitting another.

Among the numerous qualifications stated in the letter are:

• 45,000 hotel rooms.
   
• An Olympic Village that sleeps 16,500 and has a 5000-person dining hall.
   
• Operations space for over 15,000 media and broadcasters.
   
• An international airport that can handle thousands of international travelers per day.
   
• Public transportation service to venues.
   
• Roadway closures to allow exclusive use for games-related transportation.
   
• A workforce of up to 200,000.

While Charlotte does not have an Olympic Stadium, it boasts 2 world-class sports facilities with its U.S. National Whitewater Center and its Mecklenburg County Aquatics Center. And Charlotte Douglas Airport, being the nation’s fastest growing and 6th busiest airport, would certainly be able to rise to the challenge. The required number of hotel rooms, however, leaves Charlotte short by about 15,000. An audit after the Democratic National Convention showed that a total of 61,246 hotel room nights were used.

A shaky leg up may come in form of our very own, 90 year old Irwin “Ike” Belk, who is the nation’s largest individual donor to the U.S. Olympic Committee. Ike has been to more Olympics than most anyone alive and has not missed a game since 1960. For nearly 50 years he has served on the U.S. Olympic Committee. Part of the U.S. Olympic training center in Colorado Springs carries the family name.

The U.S.O.C. says it has not decided whether to pursue a bid in 2024, but it has begun the decision-making process. In the letter, U.S.O.C. CEO Scott Blackmun said that the U.S.O.C. has about two years to select the city for the United States’ bid. The I.O.C. will choose the 2024 host city in 2017.

Blackmun went on to say: “Our objective in this process is to identify a partner city that can work with us to present a compelling bid to the I.O.C. and that has the right alignment of political, business and community leadership.” He reminded the mayors of the huge undertaking involved in hosting the Olympics with operating costs in excess of $3 billion, not including venue construction and infrastructure costs.

Author: Heidi Lind, International Group Coordinator, Charlotte