(ATR) The possibility exists that the United States could host back-to-back Olympic Games starting in 2026.
The IOC’s groundbreaking decision to award two consecutive Summer Games at the same time – with Paris getting 2024 and Los Angeles receiving 2028 – puts a U.S. bid for a future Winter Games on the table.
Until now, the U.S. Olympic Committee has been concentrating on landing a Summer Games. But with LA now in place for 2028, the USOC could be interested in chasing a Winter Games bid.
Salt Lake City and Denver are interested, with the Associated Press reporting that preliminary talks have been held in both cities.
Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Winter Games, the last time an Olympics was in the United States. Many of the venues remain in use more than 15 years later. That is a major plus for any city bidding for an Olympics under the IOC’s Agenda 2020 guidelines, which calls for the use of existing venues wherever possible.
Denver would need more infrastructure and with a deadline of 2019 for the IOC’s decision on the 2026 host, time would appear to be against the Colorado capital for now.
Both cities also carry some baggage within the IOC. The 2002 Salt Lake City Games were embroiled in a bidding scandal while Denver holds the distinction of being the only city to be awarded an Olympics – the 1976 Winter Games - only to then decline to host the event.
Innsbruck, which stepped in for Denver in 1976, is one of the cities currently in the mix for 2026. A referendum on Oct. 15 will determine whether the Innsbruck bid to host a third Olympics goes forward.
Sion has the support of Swiss Olympic but is awaiting the initial results of a review of the bid by the Swiss federal government that is expected by mid-October. A final decision is not scheduled until May 2018. Should federal support be approved, there is still the possibility that a referendum in the canton of Valais could be held in the fall of 2018.
City governments in Calgary and Stockholm have yet to be convinced that bidding for the 2026 Olympics makes sense. But the IOC’s new bidding process, aimed at curtailing the costs of bidding as well as hosting, could help change some minds.
Other cities that have shown interest in a bid for 2026 include Erzurum, Turkey, and the 1972 Winter Olympics host, Sapporo.
With the next two Winter Olympics and next three Olympics in total being held in Asia, it is likely that the IOC will want the 2026 Games in Europe or North America. It is also likely that back-to-back Games in the United States may not be a first choice for IOC voters.
Should a European candidate not materialize, though, a U.S. bid could become more palatable.
The official candidature phase begins in October 2018 with the vote for the 2026 host expected in October 2019 at the IOC Session in Milan, Italy.
Written by Gerard Farek
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