Winter Olympics bids: 2030, 2034, and beyond

[clairecloutier]

Salt Lake City group is optimistic on 2030/2034 bid after "technical visit" from IOC:

Salt Lake City bid chief has "fingers crossed" for 2030 Winter Olympics

The chief executive of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, Fraser Bullock, has spoken positively of the International Olympic Committee's...

www.insidethegames.biz

Other bidders for 2030: Vancouver, Sapporo, Pyrenees-Barcelona

 

[Karen-W]

Salt Lake City group is optimistic on 2030/2034 bid after "technical visit" from IOC:

Salt Lake City bid chief has "fingers crossed" for 2030 Winter Olympics

The chief executive of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, Fraser Bullock, has spoken positively of the International Olympic Committee's...

www.insidethegames.biz

Other bidders for 2030: Vancouver, Sapporo, Pyrenees-Barcelona

Pyrenees-Barcelona is dead in the water. There is fighting between Barcelona and Zaragoza over which city will host the marquee ice events. It's so fractious that the bid organizers had to postpone the IOC's technical visit which was due to happen this month. Plus, their plan for the sledding and ski jumping events is to rehabilitate the facilities in SARAJEVO and hold those events there.

Vancouver is also pretty far behind and would likely be forced to bow out of the First Nations organizers are pushed into a public referendum. Sapporo is still trying to get it's public support firmed up, but if they can figure that out this summer, then they're likely to be given 2030. Either way, Sapporo and SLC are so far ahead of the other two they could both easily be elevated to "targeted dialogue" status from the current "continuous dialogue" status all 4 cities have at the moment.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next 6-8 months. My instinct says we'll have a fairly good idea by fall whether 2030 will be Sapporo or SLC.

 

[manhn]

As the Vancouver bid is headed by the First Nations, I don’t see another plebiscite taking place unless the FN agrees to it. The optics would not look good.

 

[barbk]

I hope if it goes to SLC they figure out a way to hold figure skating in an arena that doesn't put the ice down in a pit.

 

[Karen-W]

As the Vancouver bid is headed by the First Nations, I don’t see another plebiscite taking place unless the FN agrees to it. The optics would not look good.

I don't think a plebiscite is necessary - Sapporo certainly isn't having one (it'd be a squeaker if they did and their bid organizers know it) and SLC doesn't need one since public opinion polls are showing such a high degree of support. But, what the First Nations do need are some solid public opinion polls showing that there is support for a bid. The optics won't look good if they try to organize this and the general public doesn't want another WOG.

 

[Sylvia]

Dec. 6, 2022 press release by the IOC: https://olympics.com/ioc/news/futur...w-to-the-olympic-winter-games-2030-and-beyond

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board (EB) heard today (6 December 2022) a comprehensive report from the Future Host Commission for the Olympic Winter Games, under the leadership of IOC Member Octavian Morariu.

This led to a wider discussion on climate change, sustainable winter sport, and future opportunities and challenges.

The Commission, building on Olympic Agenda 2020 and 2020+5, outlined a number of proposals and potential challenges around hosting the Olympic Winter Games, which could have an impact on future elections, including:

• The preliminary results of leading academic research, showing a potential reduction in the number of climate-reliable hosts
• Ongoing discussions by the Winter Sports Federations around adjustments that have already started to be made to their event calendars and potential new competition formats
• The idea of rotating the Olympic Winter Games within a pool of hosts
• To ensure climate reliability, a proposal that hosts would need to show average minimum temperatures of below zero degrees for snow competition venues at the time of the Games over a 10-year period.

Upon the request of the Commission, the EB decided to give the Commission more time to study all these factors and opportunities to make the best possible decisions about future hosting.

It will also enable the Commission to further consult with the Interested Parties, International Federations, athletes, winter sports industry experts and the International Paralympic Committee. This will assist in providing a clearer picture for the IOC to make a sound decision for the host of the Olympic Winter Games 2030.

This means that the IOC is no longer targeting a 2030 host election at the 140th IOC Session in 2023. The three Interested Parties in Continuous Dialogue have been informed today about these discussions.

Mr Morariu said: “The new, flexible approach to electing Olympic hosts was designed so the IOC could respond swiftly and effectively to ever-changing global circumstances, for the benefit of the athletes, all Olympic Games participants and the whole sports movement.”

There was also a discussion about a double award for 2030 and 2034, to create stability for winter sports and the Olympic Winter Games. No conclusion was reached, since this needs more exploration.

Related article and relevant excerpts:

IOC delays plan to award 2030 Winter Olympics at next Session

The International Olympic Committee has delayed its plan to award the 2030 edition of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics at its Executive Board meeti...

www.insidethegames.biz

Sapporo and Salt Lake City had been considered the frontrunners for the 2030 event after the Government of British Columbia did not back Vancouver's proposal, although Dubi referenced three interested parties in staging the event.
While this would mean that the Games would be awarded fewer than seven years in advance, Dubi affirmed that the experience of the three candidates in continuous dialogue would ensure that this was not an issue.
"Not at all [is he concerned], because if you take the context we are in right now and those proposals we have on the table, they have hosted Games in the past and they have the venues, they have the expertise as well hosting competitions not day-in, day-out but winter-in, winter-out," the Swiss official said.

Sapporo has long been viewed as the favourite for the 2030 Winter Olympics, although doubt has been cast following the corruption scandal associated with Tokyo 2020.
Salt Lake City officials have admitted that 2034 would be their preference, while a lack of Provincial Government support dealt what would appear a fatal blow to Vancouver's hopes.

Excerpts from today's Salt Lake Tribune article:

Olympics in Utah every 20 years? Salt Lake City could be part of a Winter Games rotation

The International Olympic Committee entered a "targeted dialog" with Salt Lake City to host the 20XXXXXXX Olympics, which all but assures the Winter Games will return to Utah for the firs time since 2002.

www.sltrib.com

Prior to the IOC’s decision, the host of the 2030 Olympics looked like it would come down to two former hosts: Salt Lake City, which held the Winter Games in 2002, and Sapporo, Japan, which had them in 1972.
A third potential host was Vancouver, host of the 2010 Games, whose bid piqued interest in part because it was the first Indigenous-led effort. It seemed to receive a fatal blow, however, when British Columbia refused to serve as the underwriter for the Games. Yet according to GamesBids.com, organizers of Vancouver’s bid weren’t giving up. They delivered a presentation to the Future Host Committee via a video conference late last month — as did organizing committees from Sapporo and SLC.

Fraser Bullock is the CEO and president of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games:

Bullock expressed some disappointment that a decision on the 2030 and 2034 hosts won’t be made next year. Nonetheless, he noted, it might work out in Salt Lake City’s favor because the IOC might then be more likely to name the hosts of both Games in 2024. If Utah gets the 2034 Games — as it would prefer because of the otherwise short runway between it and the Summer Games in Los Angeles in 2028 — it would still have a decade to prepare.
Even with a shorter timeline, though, he said Utah could make it work.
“We’ve got the venues, all the pieces in place,” he said. “Probably the one negative is that you have a shorter time frame to bring domestic sponsors and the domestic sponsors have a shorter time frame to activate their sponsorship.”
Even so, he held to his promise that local taxpayers would not have to fund any of the estimated $2.4 billion it will cost to host the games. He said the committee had already accounted for that type of scenario when it made its budget to host shortly after L.A.

 

[Karen-W]

Da-yum... The IOC must be really uncertain about the support in Sapporo. This was not a prognosticated turn of events from the IOC Exec Commission today.

 

[Sylvia]

Associated Press article (Nov. 25, 2022):

Japan investigators raid Dentsu in widening Olympic probe

Japanese prosecutors have raided the headquarters of major advertising company Dentsu as the investigation into corruption related to the Tokyo Olympics widens.

apnews.com

Kyodo News article:

Ad giant Dentsu raided over alleged Tokyo Olympic bid rigging

Tokyo prosecutors search the head office of ad giant Dentsu Inc. and elsewhere over alleged bid rigging for the rights to organize test events for the Tokyo Olympics.

english.kyodonews.net

 

[ptvvibezz]

The Sapporo bid for 2030 has been put on "hold"

Sapporo 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games bid put on hold

The Japanese Olympic Committee and the City of Sapporo have decided to pause their efforts to bid for the 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games as...

www.insidethegames.biz

 

[Karen-W]

The Sapporo bid for 2030 has been put on "hold"

Sapporo 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games bid put on hold

The Japanese Olympic Committee and the City of Sapporo have decided to pause their efforts to bid for the 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games as...

www.insidethegames.biz

The IOC already put on hold a decision for the 2030 WOG to at least 2024, but, right now, they have got to be in full-on panic mode. SLC is the only city left standing.

 

[Debbie S]

Looks like it will be SLC in 2030 and 2034. Yay for the Olys in the U.S. but I hope SLC is capable of pulling it off. Is it conceivable that a new bid city for either Games will emerge at this point?

 

[On My Own]

Looks like it will be SLC in 2030 and 2034. Yay for the Olys in the U.S. but I hope SLC is capable of pulling it off. Is it conceivable that a new bid city for either Games will emerge at this point?

I'm looking forward to watching the gorgeous rocks!

fans don't get to see carrying the torch for even longer = me happy. Can't imagine all the intolerable crap if it had gone to Sapporo, bleh.

 

[Karen-W]

Looks like it will be SLC in 2030 and 2034. Yay for the Olys in the U.S. but I hope SLC is capable of pulling it off. Is it conceivable that a new bid city for either Games will emerge at this point?

I doubt it will be SLC for both 2030 and 2034, unless things get really dire. I do think that it's all but certain that SLC will host 2030, but there is no way a double allocation for 2030 and 2034 to SLC will happen. The IOC is going to hold out hope that Sapporo, Vancouver or some potential European host is able to get their act together for 2034. Rumor is the German OC is considering either 2034 or 2036 - I think 2036 is more likely, but who knows whether or not they could offer a sweetened enough pot to get Munich on board with 2034. Same with Oslo, Stockholm, Innsbruck, etc. And, of course, there's always Almaty, lol.

 

[MacMadame]

Looks like it will be SLC in 2030 and 2034. Yay for the Olys in the U.S. but I hope SLC is capable of pulling it off.

They did it once before and many of those facilities are still there and being used (so not falling into disrepair).

 

[Debbie S]

They did it once before and many of those facilities are still there and being used (so not falling into disrepair).

I'm aware of that. I was referring to the challenges of hosting 2 Olys back to back. But as Karen pointed out, there may be other bidders for 2034.

 

[Karen-W]

Right now, the consensus on some of the other sites I follow seems to be the IOC knew this was coming from Sapporo, which is why they made the decision 2 weeks ago to hold off on elevating any city to "targeted" rather than "continuous" dialogue for both 2030 and 2034. Basically the Sapporo bid organizers and the JOC need to figure out the fallout from the Tokyo scandal as it continues to unfold and the hope is that in another year or 18 months, public support for Sapporo 2030 will have risen enough to award it to them, with SLC holding out for 2034.

Personally, I don't think that's likely to happen and we're THIS close to it being SLC's - and SLC is in a good position to handle a shortened timeline to organize the WOG, which is about the only reason the IOC hasn't blinked yet and paid up whatever the USOPC is demanding to just get it over and done with, lol.

 

[Vagabond]

There's always Tallinn.

 

[Karen-W]

And the Sapporo bid is all but dead - https://gamesbids.com/eng/winter-ol...w-poll-reveals-dealing-major-blow-to-project/

With the massive drop in public support, there's just no way that this bid can move forward. I can't see any Japanese bid for 2034 happening either.

Vancouver is still DOA with the provincial government, and Germany has said no to a 2030 rescue bid. At this point, I won't be surprised if we have a surprise announcement sometime later this winter or spring awarding the 2030 Winter Olympics to SLC. They are, literally, the only candidate city left.

 

[On My Own]

Yaaaas

 

[skipaway]

But will SLC have any snow? The drought has been brutal to the Great Salt Lake.

 

[MacMadame]

But will SLC have any snow? The drought has been brutal to the Great Salt Lake.

They have it this year. Record rains in this part of the country have contributed. 2030 is a long way away though.

 

[Sylvia]

AP article (April 6, 2023):

Sapporo election could restart bid for 2030 Winter Olympics

Sapporo’s bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics has been slowed by fallout from the still-developing corruption scandal around the 2020 Tokyo Games. The pursuit could resume if Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto is re-elected, as expected, against two anti-Olympic candidates. The Japanese city suspended...

apnews.com

Sapporo’s bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics has been slowed — but not stopped — by fallout from the still-developing corruption scandal around the 2020 Tokyo Games.
The pursuit could resume if Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto is re-elected on Sunday, as expected, against two anti-Olympic candidates.
The northern Japanese city suspended actively promoting the bid three months ago, hoping damage from Tokyo’s scandal would fade from view.
It hasn’t entirely and Sapporo, once the favorite, now has an uncertain Olympic future.
A January poll by the regional newspaper Hokkaido Shimbun showed 67% were opposed to holding the Olympics.

Sapporo and Vancouver were the only known candidates for 2030. Vancouver was sidelined when the provincial government declined to support financing, and Sapporo has stalled.
This prompted the IOC to recruit Stockholm, Sweden — aided by powerful Swedish IOC member Gunilla Lindberg. Swedish officials say they are doing a feasibility study. Vague plans have also surfaced for a possible bid from Switzerland.
Sweden is unlikely to require a public vote, although Switzerland is likely to.

Deseret News [Utah] article (April 3):

Now there are five: Switzerland bidding for a Winter Games

Swiss Olympic officials announce they’re in talks with the IOC to host an unspecified Winter Games. Salt Lake City, Sapporo, Vancouver and possibly Stockholm are the only other identified contenders. The IOC is expected to award the 2030 and 2034 Winter Games some time next year.

www.deseret.com

But IOC officials, who previously confirmed there were six places vying for a Winter Games, said last week there are now even more under the new, less formal bid process that allows discussions to remain confidential until the later stages.
What’s not been divulged is the identity of all contenders for 2030 or beyond, or the size of the field. With Switzerland’s announcement late last week, just five current Winter Games bids have been made public.

Salt Lake City’s bid leaders have repeatedly said Utah is ready to host in 2030 if needed, but would rather wait four more years to avoid any financial conflict with 2028 Summer Games in another American city, Los Angeles.
The IOC is likely to choose both the 2030 and 2034 Winter Games hosts some time next year.

 

[Karen-W]

Lolololol... the IOC is desperate to find anyone but SLC for 2030. Stockholm's efforts are likely dead in the water, same with Switzerland, and Sapporo is going nowhere, despite that mayoral election.

 

[sk9tingfan]

Well, it's official; the US and France will dhstr Winter and Summer Olympics throgh 2034!

Summer
2024: Paris
2028: Los Angeles

Winer
2030: French Alps
2034: Salt Lake City

https://twitter.com/olyphil/status/1729916445646045570

 

[muffinbiscuit]

Nastia Liuken appears on Hulu show "Special Forces"

 

[skatingguy]

Nastia Liuken appears on Hulu show "Special Forces"

I'm trying but I'm not seeing the connection.