(STEVENS POINT, Wis.) – Omaha, a city very familiar with hosting Olympic Trials, has been selected as the site for the 2018 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Curling.
“We are very excited about the potential for our sport’s growth in Omaha and across the United States as we bring the upcoming U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Curling to Nebraska for the first time. Much like when Omaha was selected to host its first of what has now been three straight Olympic Trials for USA Swimming, I suspect this announcement may cause a little head scratching around the curling community. Especially since we had very strong bids from several cities that have done a great job hosting major championship curling events previously,” said Rick Patzke, USA Curling’s Chief Executive Officer. “Along with our entire selection panel, I was highly impressed by the professionalism of the bid, the facilities to be used, and the partnership between the Omaha Sports Commission, University of Nebraska Omaha’s Baxter Arena, and the Aksarben Curling Club. The additional information gathered in a site visit confirmed that Omaha is serious about making these the best Olympic Trials ever for curling, and we believe that the competing athletes and fans in attendance will ultimately find that to be true.”
The Trials will take place Nov. 12-19, 2017, at Baxter Arena, a 7,800-seat multi-purpose facility that opened in 2015 on the University of Nebraska Omaha campus across from Aksarben Village. The 2018 Olympic Team Trials for Curling will mark the first time that Omaha, which hosted the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Swimming earlier this month, will host a major curling event.
The event will be hosted by UNO’s Baxter Arena and the Omaha Sports Commission, in partnership with the Aksarben Curling Club.