The Sportaccord conference - scheduled for March 23-27 in Denver - will bring together representatives of world sports federations, top officials of the International Olympic Committee and other decision- makers from the athletic world. The event is seen as helping Denver's chances of securing major sporting events in the future, possibly including the Winter Olympics. Andrew Ryan, director of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations, talked with Rocky reporter Clay Latimer about Denver's place in international sports.

1 Were you surprised by the USOC's decision not to make a bid for the 2018 Winter Games?

"Not entirely. If I was in their position, I would focus absolutely 100 percent on the Summer Games bid (2016 in Chicago), and then reassess the situation depending on what came out of that."

2 Assess Denver's chances for the 2022 Winter Games.

"We live in a time that's so variable, so for anyone to speculate about when and where . . ."

3 Does Colorado's rejection of the 1976 Winter Games hurt its chances?

"I'm going to be brutally honest. Until I received that question here from a journalist, I didn't even know about it. Now I'm worried about it. So my advice to anyone here is to not even mention it."

4 It has been a long time, hasn't it?

"It was 33 years ago. If Denver makes a bid in the 2020s or 2030s, it would be so long ago that no one who was around then would be in a position to (influence the bid)."

5 How well known is Denver among the international sports bodies?

"It probably isn't on every sports federation person's itinerary. This is where the Sportaccord becomes vital. You can introduce the city. You should expect one or two international federation championships to come to Denver. Building up to an Olympics bid requires the hosting of quite a lot of international events that are recognized."