In the 32-year history of the United States Olympic Committee and its presence in Colorado Springs, there have been scores of historically significant events taking place or announced.

A short list might include the opening of Olympic House and the inaugural National Sports Festival in the summer of 1978, the heartbreaking April 12, 1980, announcement at the Antlers Hotel that the US Olympic Team would not go to Moscow and the July, 1979 announcement on an OTC bulletin board naming the 25 ice hockey players that would become the Lake Placid Miracle On Ice stars.

There were back-to-back world records in the 100 metres by Calvin Smith and Evelyn Ashford at the ’83 Sports Festival; moments of emotional triumph as Atlanta and Salt Lake City got the nod as hosts for the Games; a pair of visits to the USOC by International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch and others.

But today’s quiet news out of our city that the USOC and the IOC have come to an agreement over Games costs and the clear indication that these two powerful forces are now on the same page and charting a future based on trust and strong bonds is as important as any of those, maybe more.

Make no mistake about it, the USOC is the most important and most powerful national Olympic Committee in the IOC family. The USOC brings to the Olympic movement some of the best staged Games in history, staggering financial support from American corporations and television, some of the greatest athletes in Olympic history, and a passionate, committed resolve to beat the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

The last decade has been beset with difficulties in this vital relationship, including the failed bids by two of our great cities, New York and Chicago, to host the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. There has been a setback in the USOC’s international presence and its clout, and there have been a series of high profile management issues and turnover that hurt.

What took place today is incredibly meaningful for the next decade, and a tribute to the work and understanding of the importance of timing and history by USOC chairman Larry Probst and CEO Scott Blackmun.

In the eight months that Probst and Blackmun have worked as a team, the USOC has effectively restored credibility and profile to the USOC, starting with the magnificent performance by the US Olympic team in Vancouver.

Blackmun's brief tenure has demonstrated not only his acumen for building a team of solid professionals in Colorado Springs, but a commitment to build a bridge to the community and its citizens in the aftermath of the move downtown to new headquarters.

His remarks a week ago at the "Building A Great City Through Sports" luncheon in front of an enthusiastic and appreciative crowd of 500 struck the right chord in an important moment for the future. Blackmun was clear about the USOC’s commitment to, and appreciation of Colorado Springs, and he outlined programmes and events that back it up.

Following the lunch, which provided a strong message about the impact and the importance of the USOC to the city, dozens of attendees spoke openly about the future, and the opportunities that have opened because of the Olympic presence and their positive reaction to Blackmun (pictured) and his role.

What was announced today was a beginning of sorts, but it is a statement that will resonate in Lausanne and among the members of the IOC, some of them critics of the USOC in the past, some jealous, and some waiting to be convinced.

The door to the future, and the next decade is now open, and for the first time in a very long time, I can see what now may lie ahead for the USOC.

Another welcomed bid by an American city for the Games, a strengthened presence for the USOC in international sport enhanced by hosting important meeting and events such as the Youth Olympic Games, World Championships and exhibitions. Or a leadership role in strategic issues including the war against drugs and athletes and their funding and rights.

But best may be the return of respect by IOC members and National Olympic Committees for the USOC and American sport, because that is central to the mission and the heart and soul of the USOC, its National Governing Bodies and member associations, and its Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

It won’t happen overnight, trust me, but the right people and the right attitude is in place in downtown Colorado Springs.

The September 23-25 gathering of the US Olympic Assembly in Colorado Springs, thanks to Blackmun the first time this prestigious meeting has been held in the city, will cast more light on these issues, and set the tone for what comes next.

It will be one of the most notable among the hundreds of Olympic-related gatherings in the hometown of the USOC, remarkably different in every respect from what happened in the same hotel and its ballroom some three decades ago when a decision was made to stay home from the Olympic Games in Moscow, one that might have been part of the end of the Games as we know them.

It is appropriate in every way that this will happen in Colorado Springs, which welcomed and embraced the tiny USOC and its flagship Olympic Training Center in 1978 when only Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was the only other city to extend a hand as the organisation left New York City.

Our city is known as the "City where Olympic and Paralympic Dreams begin".  Now, more dreams begin here at the foot of Pikes Peak for the USOC, an organisation that began in 1894 in a smoke-filled club in New York City where a dozen men sat around a table and created something special as the rebirth of the Modern Olympic Games lay ahead in Athens two years later.

Mike Moran was the chief communications officer of the USOC for nearly 25 years before retiring in 2003. In 2002 he was awarded with the USOC's highest award, the General Douglas MacArthur Award. He worked on New York's unsuccessful bid to host the 2012 Olympics and is now director of communications for the Colorado Springs Sports Corporation.