Coming to Sweden again

Swedes have the reputation of Hannu Hansen, but Sweden is Donald Duck when it comes to hosting the Winter Olympics.

Sweden is the country with the most unsuccessful winter Olympic host searches with eight companies.

And not even the ninth time, Stockholm–Åre’s bid for the 2030 race, seems to be slipping through the finish line.

– Sweden’s problem is the criticality that comes from the Muslim world. Sweden’s foreign policy reputation is quite low. It certainly has an effect, says Iltalehti’s athletics expert Arto Bryggarewhich was involved in the Helsinki–Lahti–Lillehammer 2006 Winter Olympic bid.

The International Olympic Committee decided in mid-October that in the summer of 2024, at an event held before the Paris Games, it will choose both the 2030 and 2034 Winter Olympic hosts at once.

This should have been excellent news for the Swedes, as the number of candidates applying for the 2030 Games was reduced from four in principle to three and in practice to two.

Salt Lake City is currently the only official candidate for the 2034 Winter Games. The contender for Salt Lake City that has been publicized is Japan’s Sapporo, but according to Kyodo News, Japanese criticism of the financial failure of the 2021 Tokyo Summer Games is watering down the project. Earlier, Sapporo withdrew from the 2030 race.

If the US venue is the only option for 2034, as it strongly seems, it will of course not apply for the 2030 Games.

In this case, the options in 2030 are, in addition to Sweden, Switzerland and France’s Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur–Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

France’s chances are non-existent due to the general modesty of the application and the proximity of the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.

1.42 billion

The organization of the Olympic Games is decided by 107 members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Twelve of them come from a country where Islam is the dominant religion.

Sweden has become the focus of Muslims, especially with the Koran burning cases.

– Environmental factors and safety are at the center when the competition host is chosen. The world situation is very critical, more critical than in a long time. What kind of security risk is it when Sweden is an open society, Bryggare ponders.

Sweden’s strengths are stable performance venues. Ice sports in Stockholm, Nordic skiing in Falun, biathlon and alpine skiing in the Östersund–Åre area. Tobogganing would be taken to Sigulda, Latvia, where the track is already ready.

The initial budget for the Swedish Games is said to be 1.42 billion euros, of which 860 million euros would come from the IOC’s pocket.

Support for Sweden

The Finnish Olympic Committee supports Sweden.

– We are on a common Nordic line. The Finnish Olympic Committee has no decision-making power, and we do not vote, but we can make our voices heard. It would be a great thing if Sweden got the Olympic Games, CEO of the Finnish Olympic Committee Taina Susiluoto comment.

In the most recent Winter Games in Vancouver, Sochi, Pyeongchang and Beijing, the events have been divided into two locations: snow and ice sports centers.

In both Sweden’s and above all Switzerland’s application, the competitions are considerably more fragmented.

– Sweden’s application supports the IOC’s principles of responsibility and sustainable development. The competitions could be held in more places, and there is no need for new construction, Susiluoto states.

Finnish members of the IOC are Sari Essayah and Emma Terho. Next summer, they will vote on the competition hosts.

Banking country with the strong

Switzerland is a non-aligned country. With the help of its massive banking business, it has been able to coddle east and west, democracies and dictatorships in a suitable way throughout the world wars.

– Switzerland is strong in the IOC, as it has managed to play the independence cards, Bryggare says.

– The safety aspect is better in Switzerland than in Sweden. For example, entry into the country can be controlled more tightly, Bryggare adds.

St. Moritz, Switzerland hosted the 1948 Winter Games. Since then there have been unsuccessful applications for St. Moritz 1960 and Sion in 1976, 2002 and 2006.

– In the 2006 competition, Switzerland was the best option. In their project, all the performance locations were ready, Bryggare recalls.

Now practically the entire 41,000 square kilometer alpine country is applying for the Games. There are as many as 13 performance locations: from Lausanne in the west to Davos in the east and from Crans-Montana in the south to Kloten in the north.

Special decision makers

Gothenburg 1984, Falun 1988 and 1992, Östersund 1994, 1998 and 2002, and Stockholm–Åre 2022 and 2026. That’s Sweden’s previous watersheds.

– Stockholm–Åre is really in the game. The Swedes are working hard to influence the 2030 Games. I think their setup is strong, Susuluoto estimates.

– Sweden’s application looks good, but I don’t believe in their victory, says Bryggare.

Based on the background interviews conducted by Iltalehti, Sweden’s application is the best in terms of sports and due to several previous losses, the games would “belong” to the western neighbor, but Switzerland pulls the longest stick.

– On the other hand, KOK has such a special group of princes, princesses and Juan Antonio Samanranchi starting with the boy, that nothing is certain until the outcome of the vote, Bryggare says.

The Finns were left with a bitter taste from the 2006 application process, when Torino unexpectedly came from behind.

– Those games were distributed to Italy with money, Bryggare throws.

– Italy was able to lobby the games for Turin, even though it was clearly a worse applicant than us or Sion. It was a rough game when Italy had such a massive representation in the management positions of the various sports federations, down to the presidents. I don’t know if money moved to the IOC members, but the Italians did a terrible lobbying over the course of a couple of years, comments the person who led the Finnish race search Jouko Purontakane In Iltalehti’s story in 2021.