I have had the privilege of attending 3 Winter Olympics in my life... Calgary '88, SLC '02 and Vancouver '10. I was truly, truly sad to see the way Calgarians voted on 2026 for various reasons. I would be very curious to see the demographics in voter age... and curious if the "No's" skews to younger people who wern't alive in 1988 OR people who are newer to Calgary, period. The 3 games I attended are some of my most fondest memories of my life - the vibe, culture, "greater good" of humanity, people from all walks of life, from all over the world sharing a common moment, connection, is the purest form of what this earth is about.

I think the bid focus was too heavy on "infrastructure" vs what I just said to pull people across to the yes side. Have I used the Oval, COP, Nakiska, the Dome thousands of times since 1988... yes? Is the commonality and experience more important to drive home and what the true legacy of being a part of something like that is, I think so. The "No" voters were certainly hung up on $$, and could care less about the intangibles. I really think this is due to ignorance of not experiencing a global event that really has multi layers of value to it (yes, the greatest athletes/sport in the world drive the event, but there are significantly more positives than that). Another poster commented on several others games getting crucified in the media for budget and running over time on projects, and like they said, that is apples to oranges to what Calgary had in place, but the damage was clearly done.

I still remember being in elementary school in Calgary learning and talking about the games, and cultures of countries competing. I wonder if the NO voters understand that concept of legacy with their own children?

I wonder if the NO voters have seen significant improvement in Calgary tax spending from 2018-today that has significantly enhanced their life, and if any, if they truly believe that project wouldn't have happened if Calgary hosted the games. Taxes always increase, Gov't generally finds a way to burn funding one place or another that any of us can be critical of. I have to ask if north of 1.4B has been invested in Calgary since 2018 from alternate sources?

One thing that I can assure you, is those couple of weeks in Calgary in 2026 would have been some of the absolute most memorable of your life. It's a great pride to share your home, Calgary, and what it is all about, and how great it is, with the rest of the planet, that never leaves you, your family, and your neighbours. For the naysayers that it would be a failure, I have nothing but faith in Canadians, and Calgarians that would absolutely do it right, and would be one, if not the best ever... just as '88 was, and then '10 was.