The 2030 Winter Olympics are scheduled to be held in the French Alps, with Salt Lake City in the USA scheduled to host four years later.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided on Wednesday to enter the dialogue phase with these two applications. Switzerland, which also expressed interest in 2030, is scheduled for 2038.
“The IOC will now hold detailed discussions with the preferred hosts with the aim of awarding the next two Winter Games in Paris in July,” announced Karl Stoss, Chairman of the Commission for the Awarding of Future Winter Games, after the IOC Executive Meeting in Paris. The organizers will be officially announced at the IOC session on the sidelines of next year’s Summer Games.
The French application with the winter sports areas in the Alps and the city of Nice for the ice sports competitions on the Cote d’Azur was supported by “regional and national socio-economic development planning and the strong support of the public and the government,” explained Stoss. The same applies to the planned new edition in Salt Lake City, where the Winter Games were held in 2002. Both candidates applied primarily with existing sports facilities.
The French bid relies not least on locations where competitions at the 1992 Games in Albertville had already taken place. These include Courchevel, Meribel and Val d’Isere for Alpine racing and La Clusaz for Nordic racing. The La Plagne bobsleigh and toboggan run is also still in use. France previously hosted the Winter Games with Chamonix in 1924 and Grenoble in 1968.
The IOC initially wants to give Switzerland and Sweden, who had also expressed their interest, time to “do their homework”. With the Swiss application, a “privileged dialogue” for the 2038 Winter Games was agreed. “Switzerland has great potential,” explained Stoss. The Swedish application was also “technically excellent”. However, both still lack public and political support.