Adam Berg
Published: 2016
Total Pages:
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On May 12, 1970, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded Denver, Colorado, the 1976 winter Olympic games. About two and half years later, on November 7, 1972, Colorado citizens voted by a three to two margin to make it a violation of Colorados constitution for state funds to be allocated toward the event. Colorado politicians and business leaders had spent years planning, campaigning, and traveling the globe to earn the right to host the winter sports festival. Nevertheless, with funding suddenly inaccessible, Denvers Olympic planners were forced to rescind their invitation to the youth of the world, as Olympic hosts traditionally declared every four years. This dissertation delves into the political controversies surrounding the 1976 Denver winter Olympic games. Colorados decision to banish the Olympics was the product of a change in how Coloradans viewed economic growth, combined with broadened understandings of the political power of citizenship. A pro-growth and pro-development mindset present in early 1960s motivated Denvers political and business leaders to initiate their bid and facilitated their overriding confidence in the notion that they had the support of a large majority of Colorados populace. By the beginning of the 1970s, however, the idea that growth and development were unequivocal social goods had been quieted by a diverse set of issues connected to expectations regarding individual rights. Namely, within Colorado, anxiety over the infringement of open spaces near peoples homes, objections to undue spending of taxpayer dollars, and anger that citizens had been shut out of decision-making procedures inspired various people to challenge the wisdom and morality of hosting the Olympics.