Olympic viewing party planned for July 27 in downtown Springs
The Olympics are coming to Colorado Springs – on a huge TV that’s going downtown.
A 15-by-27-foot, high-definition video screen will display the opening ceremony of the London Games, tentatively set for 6 p.m. July 27 on an NBC tape delay, in a free event at Tejon Street and Colorado Avenue, in front of the U.S. Olympic Committee’s offices.
Festivities are scheduled to start at 4 p.m. with performances on two stages, an autograph session featuring Olympians, a synthetic ice rink, a tennis court for kids, a children’s play area, interactive sport activities and demonstrations by gymnasts and a BMX stunt team. A fireworks show will cap the party at 10 p.m. after an Olympic cauldron is lit by retired figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi and her husband, Bret Hedican, a former hockey player.
Those in attendance are encouraged to wear red, white and blue, as local organizers try to turn the Springs into “Little London.” The celebration is mainly funded by the Downtown Development Authority, with support from the USOC, Springs-based U.S. Figure Skating and the Colorado Springs Sports Corp. The Gazette is one of a handful of sponsors.
About 530 Americans, including at least 18 who practice in the Springs, are expected in London, down from around 600 at prior Summer Games because the U.S. didn’t qualify in men’s soccer and baseball and softball were dropped from the Olympic program. Most Olympic prognosticators think the U.S. can win the gold-medal count but likely will lose the total-medal race to China, with pressure from Russia, Great Britain and Germany.
“I know what we’re headed into, and I know what the athletes are headed into,” U.S. chef de mission Teresa Edwards said Friday during an Olympic luncheon at the DoubleTree. “I can’t play it down, that I don’t want us to perform well. I don’t want to play it up and make it seem like we’re already better than everyone. We’re going to have to compete.”
The only women’s basketball player to appear in five Olympics, Edwards, 47, of Atlanta, called the Olympics “an overwhelming experience.” As delegation leader, “It’s a role that makes me feel like a politician,” said Edwards, who helped the U.S. capture four gold medals and a bronze at the Olympics. She added, “As an athlete, you don’t understand what goes into it because you’re just so busy trying to accomplish your game and be the best you can be.”
Roughly half of the U.S. team will qualify through Olympic trials in eight sports the next six weeks. That’s why offering a medal prediction is “a little bit like predicting the score of the Super Bowl,” USOC chief of sport performance Alan Ashley said. “Two teams are going to go in there. They’re both going to perform at their highest level, and one of them is going to come out on top. … We’ve got a great plan, and we’re going to execute.”
USOC chief executive officer Scott Blackmun cautioned that unlike other countries, the USOC gets minimal government funding, with more than 90 percent of the $141 million in revenue disclosed Friday on its 2011 income tax returns from sponsors, broadcast money and donations. Asked if the USOC could overtake China, Blackmun said, “It’s realistic. We would like to see that happen. It doesn’t mean it’s going to happen because China is spending literally billions of dollars on sport, and we are not. It’s going to be close.”
Contact Brian Gomez: 719-636-0256 or brian.gomez@gazettedev.gazette.com. Facebook: Brian Gomez. Twitter: @gazetteskysox. Google+: Brian Gomez.
Greek actress Ino Menegaki lights the Olympic torch Thursday in Athens, starting a 70-day, 8,000-mile journey to London for the Summer Games. An Olympic cauldron will be lit by retired figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi and her husband, Bret Hedican, a former hockey player, during a July 27 festival in Colorado Springs for the opening ceremony. Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS