OLYMPIC VALLEY, Calif. — The Lake Tahoe Winter Games Exploratory Committee (LTWGEC) announced June 22 that five esteemed U.S. Olympians have agreed to join its efforts to develop a bid for the Tahoe region for the Winter Olympics. The announcement comes just weeks after the LTWGEC formed with civic leaders from both California and Nevada. The new organization supersedes two organizations that were previously exploring bids, the Sacramento-based California Winter Games Coalition and the Reno-based Reno-Lake Tahoe Winter Games Coalition.

The four Olympians, Andy Gabel, Bret Hedican, Jonny Moseley, Tamara McKinney and Kristi Yamaguchi, represent a diverse array of Winter Olympic sports including downhill skiing, hockey, women’s figure skating, speed skating and freestyle skiing.

“The Olympic flame still burns in Lake Tahoe to this day. It inspires all of us to be better, work harder and achieve more,” Yamaguchi said, a figure skater in the 1992 Winter Games. “The members of the Olympic family on our team are ready to show the world the astounding assets this region has to offer the world.”

“We’re especially proud to be doing this as a family,” Yamaguchi continued, referring to her husband and fellow committee member Bret Hedican. “As parents, as partners and as Olympians, we are brimming with enthusiasm.”