Bob Niven, president of Calgary’s ’88 Olympics bid committee, dies

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Bob Niven, an instrumental determine in bringing the 1988 Olympics to Calgary and a stalwart of town’s newbie sports activities scene, has died on the age of 80.

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As president of Calgary’s bid committee, Niven performed a key position with Frank King as an architect of the Calgary Winter Olympics, an occasion that established Calgary on the world stage and left an enduring mark on town.

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Niven died at his house on Might 26 of corticobasal degeneration, a uncommon neurological illness.

Niven, a Calgary businessman who works within the oil and gasoline trade, has devoted important volunteer hours to selling newbie sports activities within the metropolis.

A lot of that involvement started as a member of the Calgary Booster Membership, the place he emerged with King in 1978 to spearhead the method that might deliver the Video games to Calgary a decade later.

He spent the next years in central roles after Calgary secured the Video games in 1981. This included being Vice-Chair of the Olympic Organizing Committee and Chair of the Calgary Olympic Improvement Affiliation, now referred to as WinSport.

‘Made a distinction’: Bob Niven’s influence felt in Calgary sports activities

“Bob was one of many individuals in Calgary who made a distinction,” mentioned Alf Fischer, a key determine in Alberta alpine snowboarding who labored with Niven throughout and after the Video games. The pair later turned enterprise companions.

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“The legacy of excessive efficiency sport and the legacy of Olympic sport wouldn’t be the identical with out Bob’s imaginative and prescient and his skill to get it performed.”

In a press release, WinSport credited Niven as the rationale the group exists at the moment.

The Bob Niven Coaching Heart at Canada Olympic Park bears his title, and has lengthy served as a coaching floor for Canadian winter athletes. Niven was additionally inducted into the Alberta Sports activities Corridor of Fame in 2012.

“Bob was a real Calgary sports activities icon, selflessly dedicating a lot of his time to newbie sports activities,” mentioned WinSport.

Fischer remembered Niven as a sensible, detail-oriented thinker, who introduced his analytical coaching in engineering to the Olympics course of.

He mentioned that character meshed nicely with King, the chief government officer of Calgary’s organizing committee, whose interpersonal expertise helped deliver the Worldwide Olympic Committee to town, and Olympic Video games chairman Invoice Pratt, whose development background has been credited as key in constructing infrastructure for the Video games. King died in 2018, and Pratt died in 1999.

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A visual legacy

Niven’s legacy is seen throughout Calgary and southern Alberta, Fischer mentioned, pointing to the Olympic Oval, Saddledome and Canmore Nordic Heart as amenities because of the profitable Video games bid.

“I hope individuals acknowledge these buildings solely exist at the moment due to Bob Niven and Frank King,” Fischer mentioned.

Reflecting on the 1988 Winter Olympics in a Calgary Herald opinion column in 2018, Niven wrote that placing the occasion collectively was troublesome amid issues together with projections of value overruns and shaky financing, however mentioned the Video games handed via town’s help.

“The 1988 Olympics have been a shocking success and Calgary now serves as a mannequin for the world,” Niven wrote on the time.

Niven is survived by his spouse Margie and daughters Christina and Jennifer.

A celebration of life for household, pals and colleagues is scheduled for June 12.

jherring@postmedia.com

Twitter: @jasonfherring