The Olympics that Never Happened: Denver '76 and the Politics of Growth
by Adam Berg
University of Texas Press, 2023 Cloth: 978-1-4773-2645-9 | eISBN: 978-1-4773-2646-6 Library of Congress Classification GV842 1976.B43 2023 Dewey Decimal Classification 796.480978883
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK
A look back at how powerful politicians, business leaders, and a diverse cast of activists used a thwarted Olympics to shape the state of Colorado and the city of Denver.
If you don’t recall the 1976 Denver Olympic Games, it’s because they never happened. The Mile-High City won the right to host the winter games and then was forced by Colorado citizens to back away from its successful Olympic bid through a statewide ballot initiative. Adam Berg details the powerful Colorado regime that gained the games for Denver and the grassroots activism that brought down its Olympic dreams, and he explores the legacy of this milestone moment for the games and politics in the United States.
The ink was hardly dry on Denver’s host agreement when Mexican American and African American urbanites, white middle-class environmentalists, and fiscally concerned local politicians realized opposition to the Olympics provided them new political openings. The Olympics quickly became a platform for taking stands on a range of issues, from conservation to urban livability to the very idea of growth, which for decades had been unquestioned in Colorado. The Olympics That Never Happened argues that hostility to the Olympics galvanized and empowered diverse citizens in a major US city, with long-term ramifications for Colorado and political activism elsewhere. The Olympics themselves were changed forever, compelling organizers to take seriously competing interests from subgroups within their communities.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Adam Berg is a professional track associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.
REVIEWS
This book deftly excavates a singular moment in Olympic history when, after the International Olympic Committee allocated the games to Denver, locals rose up and just said no. Adam Berg’s engaging narrative spotlights how wealthy businesspeople attempted to use the Olympics as a trampoline for their own pro-growth interests and how concerned denizens forged a spirited, strategic coalition to stop them. Berg meticulously demonstrates how the private interests that drove the Olympic bid process not only pilfered the public purse but also issued fantastical fabrications about the glories the games would bring. But Coloradans were not fooled. In a moment when fewer and fewer cities are game to host the Olympic Games, this book is timely and essential reading.
— Jules Boykoff
The Olympics That Never Happened highlights the disingenuousness surrounding mega–sport events. In the leadup to the 1976 Denver Winter Games, pro-Olympic supporters and anti-Olympic advocates alike used the event to advance different ideas about the future of Colorado. Adam Berg deftly illustrates the false promises of growth used to deliver the games, as well as the over-aggrandized claims for social justice deployed to halt them. Although those opposed to the Olympics forced their removal from Denver, Berg shows that the campaign was the zenith, not the genesis, of resistance to mega–sporting events. The Olympics may not have happened in Denver, but the power remained in the hands of state and Olympic power brokers.
— Lindsay Parks Pieper
Adam Berg offers a highly engaging and deeply thoughtful telling of Colorado voters' rejection of the 1976 Winter Olympic Games. Tracing the confluence of middle-class environmentalism, state taxpayers' revolts, and the civil rights movement, he explores how opposition to Denver’s Olympic dreams merged the powerful social and economic forces redefining the state. It is a must read for those concerned about the all too often hollow promises of the Olympic Games, environmental justice, and the future of urban growth.
— Michael W. Childers
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acronyms
Introduction: The Game behind the Games
Part I. The Bidders
Chapter 1. The Origins of Olympic Dreams
Chapter 2. Growth Crusaders
Chapter 3. Faking an Olympic City
Chapter 4. A Mass Soft Sell
Part II. The Opponents
Chapter 5. Post–Civil Rights Advocacy in the City
Chapter 6. Middle-Class Environmentalism in the Foothills
Chapter 7. A Liberal Tax Revolt and the Public Relations Battle
Chapter 8. Direct Democracy for Middle America
Part III. The Fate and Legacy of Denver '76
Chapter 9. The DOC’S Credibility and the Rhetoric of Olympism
Chapter 10. The Event Coalition and the Rights of Citizenship
The Olympics that Never Happened: Denver '76 and the Politics of Growth
by Adam Berg
University of Texas Press, 2023 Cloth: 978-1-4773-2645-9 eISBN: 978-1-4773-2646-6
A look back at how powerful politicians, business leaders, and a diverse cast of activists used a thwarted Olympics to shape the state of Colorado and the city of Denver.
If you don’t recall the 1976 Denver Olympic Games, it’s because they never happened. The Mile-High City won the right to host the winter games and then was forced by Colorado citizens to back away from its successful Olympic bid through a statewide ballot initiative. Adam Berg details the powerful Colorado regime that gained the games for Denver and the grassroots activism that brought down its Olympic dreams, and he explores the legacy of this milestone moment for the games and politics in the United States.
The ink was hardly dry on Denver’s host agreement when Mexican American and African American urbanites, white middle-class environmentalists, and fiscally concerned local politicians realized opposition to the Olympics provided them new political openings. The Olympics quickly became a platform for taking stands on a range of issues, from conservation to urban livability to the very idea of growth, which for decades had been unquestioned in Colorado. The Olympics That Never Happened argues that hostility to the Olympics galvanized and empowered diverse citizens in a major US city, with long-term ramifications for Colorado and political activism elsewhere. The Olympics themselves were changed forever, compelling organizers to take seriously competing interests from subgroups within their communities.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Adam Berg is a professional track associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.
REVIEWS
This book deftly excavates a singular moment in Olympic history when, after the International Olympic Committee allocated the games to Denver, locals rose up and just said no. Adam Berg’s engaging narrative spotlights how wealthy businesspeople attempted to use the Olympics as a trampoline for their own pro-growth interests and how concerned denizens forged a spirited, strategic coalition to stop them. Berg meticulously demonstrates how the private interests that drove the Olympic bid process not only pilfered the public purse but also issued fantastical fabrications about the glories the games would bring. But Coloradans were not fooled. In a moment when fewer and fewer cities are game to host the Olympic Games, this book is timely and essential reading.
— Jules Boykoff
The Olympics That Never Happened highlights the disingenuousness surrounding mega–sport events. In the leadup to the 1976 Denver Winter Games, pro-Olympic supporters and anti-Olympic advocates alike used the event to advance different ideas about the future of Colorado. Adam Berg deftly illustrates the false promises of growth used to deliver the games, as well as the over-aggrandized claims for social justice deployed to halt them. Although those opposed to the Olympics forced their removal from Denver, Berg shows that the campaign was the zenith, not the genesis, of resistance to mega–sporting events. The Olympics may not have happened in Denver, but the power remained in the hands of state and Olympic power brokers.
— Lindsay Parks Pieper
Adam Berg offers a highly engaging and deeply thoughtful telling of Colorado voters' rejection of the 1976 Winter Olympic Games. Tracing the confluence of middle-class environmentalism, state taxpayers' revolts, and the civil rights movement, he explores how opposition to Denver’s Olympic dreams merged the powerful social and economic forces redefining the state. It is a must read for those concerned about the all too often hollow promises of the Olympic Games, environmental justice, and the future of urban growth.
— Michael W. Childers
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acronyms
Introduction: The Game behind the Games
Part I. The Bidders
Chapter 1. The Origins of Olympic Dreams
Chapter 2. Growth Crusaders
Chapter 3. Faking an Olympic City
Chapter 4. A Mass Soft Sell
Part II. The Opponents
Chapter 5. Post–Civil Rights Advocacy in the City
Chapter 6. Middle-Class Environmentalism in the Foothills
Chapter 7. A Liberal Tax Revolt and the Public Relations Battle
Chapter 8. Direct Democracy for Middle America
Part III. The Fate and Legacy of Denver '76
Chapter 9. The DOC’S Credibility and the Rhetoric of Olympism
Chapter 10. The Event Coalition and the Rights of Citizenship
Chapter 11. The Momentum of the Moment
Epilogue: The Games Go On
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC