Quebec Drops 2026 Winter Olympic Bid Plans

(ATR) Just weeks after discussing a possible Olympic bid with IOC president Thomas Bach, Quebec City mayor Régis Labeaume has abandoned a tilt at landing the Games.

"Our conclusion was that we didn't have great chances of getting the Games," Labeaume told a news conference late Thursday, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

He suggested that with skiing federation president Gian-Franco Kasper and International Ice Hockey Federation Rene Fasel part of a panel evaluating possibilities for a Swiss pitch for the 2026 Games, Quebec leaders believed the city’s chances would be significantly diminished.

Labeaume said it would also be difficult to hammer out a solution to the lack of an Olympic-standard mountain near Quebec City with FIS when its president [Kasper] was backing Switzerland. Quebec officials had also looked at the prospect of partnering with Calgary and Vancouver.

The Canadian Olympic Committee was informed of Labeaume’s decision, he added. It has yet to comment.

Quebec City’s potential 2026 bid plans suffered a blow late last month when the U.S. Olympic Committee dismissed talks of Lake Placid being part of the Canadian city’s Winter Olympics push. The USOC said the focus was fully on Los Angeles securing the 2024 Olympics.

Labeaume had held talks about a possible 2026 bid with the IOC president in Lausanne earlier in April. His delegation also met with Jacqueline Barrett, the IOC’s associate director for Olympic bids and Games, and her team.

The Canadian Olympic Committee is currently exploring the potential of a bid for the 2026 or 2028 Olympics. Calgary may yet be considered as a potential candidate for the 2026 bid race.

Norway and Sweden are the other countries which are assessing bids for the Winter Games.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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