Saint Louis Seeks To Reclaim Olympic Legacy

ST. LOUIS, MO — The St. Louis Sports Commission, a privately-funded nonprofit, is seeking to reclaim some of the city's lost glory through a series of initiatives highlighting St. Louis' Olympic legacy. A newly-established St. Louis Olympic Legacy Committee will lead the effort.

St. Louis hosted the third modern Olympic Games in 1904, alongside the World's Fair — officially the Louisiana Purchase Exposition — after stealing the games from Chicago, which was originally awarded the Summer Games. The organizers of the St. Louis World's Fair threatened to hold their own competing sports championships and the International Olympic Committee eventually relented, moving the games to St. Louis. Chicago still hasn't hosted an Olympics, despite extensive lobbying by Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey for the 2016 games.

“We are one of only three cities in the U.S. – one of only 23 in the world – to host the Summer Games,” said Olympic Legacy Committee Chairman Michael Loynd. “We were the first Olympic City in America; the birthplace of the Olympic gold medal; we started the tradition of awarding gold, silver and bronze medals for first, second and third place. Yet we’ve never properly embraced our status as an Olympic host city. Every two years, for 16 days, the Olympics are the biggest thing on the planet – and we’re part of that.”

Members of the St. Louis Olympic Legacy Committee are Jackie Joyner-Kersee, six-time Olympic medalist, world-record holder and Sports Illustrated’s Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th Century; Bob Costas, Hall of Fame broadcaster and host of 12 Olympic Games (1992-2016); Shad Schoenke, a local marketing professional and civic booster who helped develop the vision, content and creative for the Olympic Legacy Project; Frank Viverito, president of the Sports Commission; Marc Schreiber, vice president of the Sports Commission; and Chairman Michael Loynd, a St. Louis attorney, investment manager, and author whose volunteer efforts have advanced the Olympic Legacy Project.

“St. Louis has a proud, interesting, and significant Olympic history,” Costas said. “I am happy to be part of the plans to preserve and celebrate that legacy.”

The Committee will hold a news conference at 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 5 to announce the the initiative's next steps. The announcement will take place near Wash U's Francis Field, the site of the 1904 Olympic stadium — the oldest Olympic stadium still in use anywhere in the world.

Photo: Jen Rhines runs past the St. Louis Art Museum and Grand Basin during the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for the Women's Marathon in Forest Park. (Donald Miralle/Sports/Getty Images)