A Summer Games in Milwaukee? This Olympic expert says, ‘Why not?’

Credit: iStock, Sean Pavone

By Christina Lorey

July 22, 2024

In 2028, the Summer Olympics will take place in Los Angeles, marking the ninth time the US has hosted the international competition. But Jay Sorgi, a news and sports reporter-turned-author is already dreaming about (and planning for) the day the games could come to America’s Dairyland.

In his nonfiction novel “Greater Than the Games,” Sorgi explores what it would take to get the games to Wisconsin: specifically, Milwaukee. While he acknowledges this is a long, long, LONG shot, he makes several solid arguments for how Milwaukee could become “the little city that could.”

“Could Milwaukee, with the help of its nearby neighbors, pull off the best Olympic Summer Games ever?” Sorgi writes.

And he has reason to believe it could happen. For years, Sorgi privately led a group of Milwaukee business and community leaders in developing, discerning, and testing a potential bid for a Summer Olympic Games in Wisconsin. They created a plan for the first Olympics since 1932 where every event was within two hours of the Athletes’ Village. The plan also included solutions for residential displacement and eliminating public cost.

WATCH: Sorgi Appears on the Bart Winkler Show to Make His Case For a Summer Olympics in Milwaukee

Five-time gold medalist speed skater Bonnie Blair Cruikshank, who wrote the book’s foreword, subscribes to Sorgi’s argument, too.

“There’s actually reason that such a bid could make sense in an innovative way,” she shared.

🇺🇸 MORE: 31 Athletes with Wisconsin Ties to Cheer on in 2024

Author

Christina Lorey

Christina Lorey is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist and former UpNorthNews newsletter editor. She previously worked as a producer, reporter, and TV anchor for stations in Madison and Moline. When she’s not writing or asking questions, Christina volunteers with Girls on the Run, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, and several mental health organizations.

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CATEGORIES: LOCAL HISTORY

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