Columbus, Council Bluffs and Iowa City named finalists for 2012 Olympic Trials

Three bid cities and their local organizing committees have been named as finalists to host the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Wrestling and Weightlifting.

The date for the event will be the weekend of April 20-21, 2012.

Alphabetically, the finalist bid cities are:
• Columbus, Ohio
• Council Bluffs, Iowa
• Iowa City, Iowa

The organizing committees selected as finalists have been invited to make an in-person presentation on behalf of their bid on either January 12 or January 13 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Seven cities submitted bids to host the event. Greensboro, N.C., Hampton, Va., Oklahoma City, Okla. and Pontiac, Mich. are not finalists at this time.

Due to the dates of international Olympic qualification tournaments in wrestling, it has been determined that the event must be held on the weekend of April 20-21.

Three of the bids proposed different dates for the event. The number of finalist cities could be increased if one or more of those cities are able to secure the weekend of April 20-21 for the event. If the date change occurs in a prompt fashion, the cities could be invited to make an in-person presentation either January 12 or 13.

“Based upon the quality of the bids received, it was decided to invite the bid leaders from these three cities to provide additional information on their plans to host the event,” said USA Wrestling Executive Director Rich Bender. “We are grateful for the seven cities which submitted bids, and thank them for their commitment to our sports and the Olympic movement. Each of the cities showed they are capable of hosting a successful event. Ultimately, we are very confident that we will select a great partner to host the U.S. Olympic Team Trials.”

“Each of these cities submitted excellent bids that highlighted the unique attributes of their venues and region. We were pleased to see so many quality locations were interested in bidding on the Trials and are looking forward to speaking with the three remaining cities to learn more about what they have to offer,” said Laurie Lopez, USA Weightlifting Interim CEO.

A selection committee will review the finalist bid presentations. The committee will include USA Wrestling staff and athletes, as well as representatives from USA Weightlifting and the U.S. Olympic Committee. An announcement on the bid selected to host the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Wrestling and Weightlifting is targeted for Jan. 17, 2011.

Each bid proposal includes hosting both the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Wrestling and Weightlifting. The wrestling event will feature competition in the three Olympic styles of the sport – men’s freestyle, Greco-Roman and women’s freestyle. The weightlifting event will include both men’s and women’s weight divisions.

The competition will determine the U.S. athletes in both sports who will qualify to represent the United States at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.

By Gary Abbott USA Wrestling 12/21/2010