Supporter of Reno Olympics effort dies

RENO -- Jim Vanden Heuvel, chief executive of a coalition trying to bring the Winter Olympic Games to Reno, has died.

Vanden Heuvel died Monday at a luncheon in Reno, friends and others working on the Olympic coalition said. He was 52.

"Jim passed away shortly after doing what he dearly loved, leading a workshop for new board members on our attempt to secure the 2018 bid for the Winter Olympic Games," said Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, chairman of the Reno-Tahoe Winter Games Coalition.

Vanden Heuvel, a track and field coach at Bishop Manogue High School, also was involved in organizing numerous other sporting events in the area.

"He had a passion for track and field," Manogue track coach Mark Smith said. "He had a relationship with everybody in town as far as track and field is concerned."

Jon Killoran, a senior policy adviser in Krolicki's office, will become acting CEO of the coalition, Krolicki said. Killoran is a former news director and sportscaster at KRNV-TV, News 4.

The coalition will rededicate itself to bringing the Winter Olympics to the Reno-Tahoe area, Krolicki said.

"Our coalition will unwaveringly proceed in its attempt to realize the Olympic dream that Jim championed so passionately and skillfully for these past years," he said.