Norway, Sweden Could Bid Together for 2026 Olympics

(ATR) One Norwegian sports official says his country should enlist a neighbor’s help to bring the Winter Olympics back to Scandinavia.

The head of the Norwegian College of Elite Sport told Norwegian newspaper Nationen that Tromdheim, Norway and Åre, Sweden should work on a joint bid for the 2026 Games.

"We definitely believe that Norway needs a new Olympics event," said Thorleif Gunhildrud. "We feel very sorry for Tromsø and then Oslo, but we realize that those opportunities are now past.

"Now we have to look ahead towards 2026."

Oslo dropped out of the running for the 2022 Winter Olympics earlier this month due to a lack of political support. Åre has been a part of previous Swedish Winter Olympic bids, including the Stockholm 2022 bid which was abandoned in January.

"When two government budgets split the costs," said Gunhildrud, "arranging the Olympics will become far less expensive."

No two countries have ever shared hosting duties by design. Stockholm hosted equestrian events on behalf of the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics due to quarantine restrictions.

It remains to be seen what impact the Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms will have on potential bids for the 2026 Olympics. Reducing the costs of the Games is thought to be at the forefront of a number of the changes.

Written by Nick Devlin

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