CLEVELAND — The Special Olympics USA 2030 Site Selection Committee is recommending Cleveland as the host city for the 2030 games. The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission is sharing the news with supporters on Wednesday.
"It's not official until we sign our contract, which will be probably late summer, early fall, but we did get word that the event is, once the contract's signed, coming to Cleveland in 2030," said Greater Cleveland Sports Commission President and CEO David Gilbert. "It will be one of the most impactful events Cleveland has ever hosted."
Earlier this year, the field was narrowed down to Cleveland and Nashville, with each hosting the committee to showcase the venues and amenities their respective cities have to offer. The committee spent several days in Cleveland back in early February. Governor Mike DeWine was among those present at the time, promoting the city during an event at Rocket Arena.
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"If you know Cleveland, if you know Ohio, this is a city that loves sports, this is a state that loves sports, but we also love our Special Olympic athletes," DeWine said at the time. "I think that combination coming together is a great reason, besides the great facilities you're seeing here today, great reasons that we're picked for 2030."
Special Olympics North America Senior Vice President Gary Simaglia, who was part of the selection committee, said during his February visit, they were impressed with the city and its offerings, but equally impressed by its people.
"Above and beyond what we've seen so far is just the tremendous amount of pride in everyone we've met and talked to," Simaglia said.
It's what has been the city's secret sauce in landing big events in the past and played a factor in the decision to go public with their bid last September in an effort to get people to sign up now to volunteer later. They had more than 10,000 people sign up.
"You don't understand, events like the RNC we had 2,500 volunteers. Ten thousand is an astounding number," Gilbert said. "And those are the kinds of things that we believe had them choose Cleveland over other cities. They saw how passionately this community wanted them from top to bottom."
The games would bring more than 5,000 athletes, coaches, and officials, along with over 10,000 friends and family, to Northeast Ohio for more than a week. That would generate an economic impact of $70 million. But the games are not just about the money spent, but the legacy left.
Something Cuyahoga County Board of Development Disabilities CEO Amber Gibbs told News 5 when the bid was launched is that they've seen in other host communities that've been able to build on the programs put in place to make those with disabilities feel more welcome and inclusive.
"So to have the games and to increase the amount of awareness and the sense of community around people with disabilities will only improve that for Cuyahoga County and Northeast Ohio. So we can't wait to welcome the Special Olympics here to Cleveland," Gibbs said.
Next year's games will be held in Minneapolis, and Gilbert said they will dispatch a large contingent to study how the games are carried out. Then, Cleveland will be on the clock for 2030.
"We don't have the dates set, but it will be a ten-day period between the last two weeks of June and the first week of July," Gilbert said.
