IN BRIEF : Cliff Buck, Ex-Olympics Chief, Dies

Cliff Buck, the former president of the United States Olympic Committee who boosted the city’s bid for the 1976 Winter Olympics, is dead at 88.

Buck, who during his tenure as USOC president supervised activities at the 1972 Winter Olympic Games in Sapporo, Japan, and the 1972 Summer Games in Munich, West Germany, died Wednesday night at the Heritage Park Care Center in Carbondale, Calif.

As an international sports figure, Buck traveled to 80 countries while boosting Denver as the site for the 1976 Games. State voters later rejected the games, which were held instead at Innsbruck, Austria.

According to Don Carlton, a close friend and associate, Buck was devastated when Denver turned the games back to the International Olympic Committee for reassignment.

Buck was an administrator in amateur sports for more than 30 years, including service to the Rocky Mountain Amateur Athletic Union, the national AAU and the USOC from 1969 through 1972.