Tampa makes pitch for Warrior Games

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Mike Nicholson lost both legs and part of an arm to an IED while serving with the Marines in Afghanistan, but every day he puts his body to the test. On this day it's in the pool at the YMCA in South Tampa. He also plays golf and wheelchair basketball.

Earlier this summer at the Warrior Games in Chicago Nicholson won six gold medals, three silver and a bronze.  Nicholson is pushing for the games to be held in Tampa as early as 2019.

"We had 50,000 people come through in Chicago and I think Tampa could bring twice as many," said Nicholson.

The Warrior Games event began in 2010 and was held on military bases, but in Chicago earlier this summer, organizers held it off-base and it paid off with higher attendance and higher interest.

Special Operations Command, headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base, has expressed an interest in hosting the games, which would likely spread events to venues across the area.

Tampa city councilman Luis Viera won unanimous approval from council to send a letter to organizers expressing Tampa's interest. 

"And now what we're going to do is strive to get other elected officials and community stakeholders involved so that we can have a kind of unified voice for the Tampa area trying to get these games here," explained Viera.

"We're such a military-friendly city, I think it's fitting that we do it," added Nicholson. "We have the facilities and we definitely have the passion behind it."

It’s the same passion he shows every day, pushing his body to train, years after the sacrifice he made for his country.