Colorado Springs Mayor Suthers and Olympians to encourage community to support Winter Olympic athletes
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., (KRDO) --The 2022 Winter Olympics are underway as we cheer on Team USA, including some athletes who train right in Colorado Springs.
This year, government leaders will not be attending the games in person after the U.S. announced a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics in Beijing to protest human rights abuse.
Despite the controversy, former Olympians and Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers say community support is important. Saturday morning, the plaza at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic museum will be decorated to cheer on two dozen athletes at the Winter Olympic games who have lived or trained in Olympic City USA.
"We are of course cheering most loudly for our hometown folks," said Mayor John Suthers at a press conference Friday morning.
Until now, the only other time the U.S. boycotted the Olympic games was in 1980 in Moscow under President Jimmy Carter. More than 400 athletes sat out of the games that year.
"I think most people think it was a mistake to boycott the games because of what it did to the athletes, I know a couple of athletes -- including Bill Hanzlick up in Denver who was on the USA Basketball team -- who didn't get to go and it was a crushing blow to them," added Mayor Suthers.
Michelle Dusserre, 1984 Silver Olympic medalist in Gymnastics, knows firsthand what a situation like this does to an athlete.
"About half of the team from the 1980 games did not ever get a chance to compete in the games and it is a lifelong impact, they had spent their entire lives up to that point training to compete in the games and they had that chance taken away," added Dusserre.
It's a chance Team USA athletes will have as they prepare for the biggest stage of their lives.
"I think even more important was knowing that my friends, family, teammates, and coaches were there supporting and feeling that community support was as much if not more important than the games competition," expressed Dusserre.
WinterFest begins 11 a.m. Saturday at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic plaza. It is a family-friendly free event.
There will be limited free parking available at the event on a first-come, first-served basis and can be accessed off W. Costilla St. & Sahwatch St. (parking lot in front of the museum).
For more information on this weekend's event, click here.
