Oslo 2022 Challenged to Win Government, Public Support

(ATR) Norwegian IOC member Gerhard Heiberg denies that the Oslo Olympic bid is in choppy waters because national government support is still lacking.

While the Oslo city council has put forward a bid with the Norwegian Olympic Committee, which won approval in a referendum two months ago, the country’s government must still make recommendations to parliament before a vote on state guarantees.

The bid’s application file is due with the IOC by its March 14 deadline, but the government’s decision won’t come until at least the summer.

The IOC’s outgoing marketing chief told reporters after Oslo 2022’s press conference in Sochi, "I don’t think we are on the edge. I think we have time and will convince them [the Games] are positive."

He added, "We are not there yet absolutely. But I think we will get there in time."

Another hurdle is the lack of public support. Despite bid leaders claiming Norway’s citizens have a passion for winter sports, the latest opinion poll, conducted a couple of months ago, revealed that 58 percent were against staging the Olympics.

Heiberg and his colleagues insisted at the press conference that the Oslo 2022 bid could turn around the dismal figures in the coming months. "That is a good start," he said.

Bid president Stian Berger Rosland, the mayor of Oslo, said the public support was similar to the backing for Lillehammer in its successful bid for the 1994 Games.

"We are going to move forward with a national campaign of getting support for the bid, working closely with the Norwegian Olympic Committee and the federation of sports," he explained.

Bjorn Daehlie, Norway’s retired cross-country skier who has eight Olympic gold medals to his name, told reporters that Norways’ success at Sochi 2014 would help to generate enthusiasm for the bid in the weeks ahead.

Heiberg chaired the press conference as if he was leading the bid.

But he clarified his role on the bid team afterwards: "I am not fronting the bid. I will not take a leading role."

Against the backdrop of the $51 billion Sochi Games, questions came about the financial burden of staging the Games in Oslo.

He said "maybe the cost, investment in Sochi frightened them a bit", referring to Stockholm’s exit from the 2022 bid race and referendums that derailed potential bids from Germany and Switzerland.

The 74-year-old emphasized that Oslo’s bid was financially secure, describing it as a "competitively low concept".

Bid CEO Eli Grimsby said that the OCOG budget of $3.4 billion includes public investments and covers safety and security. Half of the arenas earmarked for the Oslo Games are already built with private investment of $2 billion funding the media center and Olympic Village, she added.

On the budget, Heiberg said, "We promised Norwegians we wouldn’t surpass this and we hope to keep that promise."

With the IOC taking the Olympics to new territories – Sochi, Rio, and PyeongChang – he was asked if a return to Norway so soon after Lillehammer 1994 might be a problem.

"I have used the word 'experiment' about the Games coming up now. But the basic principle of IOC is universality," he said, adding that a second Games in Tokyo "would not be an experiment."

"They know how to organize and will do a great job. I say the same about Oslo ... a good and safe place where everyone knows the Games will be success and will benefit the image of the Olympic Movement."

Oslo proposes to stage most of the Games near the city with the exception of Alpine skiing and the sliding events. Those will be 2 to 3 hours away, using venues from the 1994 Lillehammer Games. If successful, Oslo would bring the Winter Olympics to Norway for a third time.

Oslo was the last of the five applicant cities for 2022 to present their bid at a press conference at the Sochi Olympics Main Press Center. Beijing and Lviv made presentations over the weekend, while a press conference with Krakow set for today was canceled due to the death of the father of the Polish leader. She is expected to return to Sochi later in the week when the city's press briefing could be rescheduled.

No word yet on whether Almaty, Kazakhstan will present to the media in Sochi.

Written by Mark Bisson.

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.