Bidding for the Games: 2018 Deadline, Doubts for Hiroshima/Nagasaki 2020

2018 Applications Due at IOC

Just three days remain for cities interested in hosting the 2018 Winter Games to submit letters of intent to the IOC in Lausanne. Deadline is October 15.

The only suspense may be over whether Harbin, China will be put forward by the Chinese Olympic Committee. Harbin entered the 2014 race, but was cut in the early stages of the bid process.

Munich, seeking to become the first city to host Summer and Winter Olympics, turned in its paperwork to the IOC.

Pyeongchang, hoping to bring the Games to Korea for the first time, is the only other candidate in the race, it’s third try for the Winter Olympics.

Initial dossiers from the 2018 applicants will be due soon after the Vancouver Olympics. The IOC vote takes place in July 2011 at the IOC Session in Durban

Japanese NOC Casts Doubt on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Proposal

Leaders of Hiroshima and Nagasaki say they are interested in forming a joint bid for the 2020 Summer Games as part of their campaign for a nuclear-free world.

But the Japanese Olympic Committee has some doubts, according to a report in the English-language Japan Times.

One JOC official says the bid may be too political, while JOC President Tsunekazu Takeda says the Olympic Charter may not allow such a bid from two cities.

Indeed, the practicality of a bid could be doomed by distance. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are more than 300 km apart

Takeda also said Japan has yet to study the outcome of the Tokyo 2016 bid, which was eliminated in the second round of voting in Copenhagen on Oct. 2.

The idea for the joint bid was announced Sunday by the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

"The Olympics symbolize the abolition of nuclear arms and world peace, and we want to work to realize our plan to host it," said Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba.

Tri-City Spanish Bid for Pyrenees Games

City officials in Zaragoza, Huesca and Jaca are said to be ready to launch a bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics, but that wil depend on whether Spain launches a third bid from Madrid for the 2020 Summer Games.

Jaca has bid four times, most recently for 2014, dropping out in the applicant city phase. That bid did include the cities of Huesca and Zaragoza, where arena events such as hockey and skating would be held. Both those cities are also needed for their accommodations and transport links.

With the IOC deadline for 2018 Winter bids three days away, the Spanish Olympic Committee is not in a position to launch a new bid just days after the defeat of Madrid for 2016. The IOC selection process for 2022 will not begin until 2013, with a vote in 2015, under current IOC timetables.

Written by Ed Hula, Mark Bisson and Karen Rosen.For general comments or questions, click here