2026 Winter Olympics

The 2026 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXV Olympic Winter Games, is a sports event to be organized in a city designated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The host city will be selected at the 132nd IOC Session in 2019.

Potential bids

Europe

• Trento, Italy^[1]

The President of the autonomous province of Trentino, Italy, announced the intention of the city of Trento to bid for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games after meetings with president of the Italian Olympic Committee.

The region recently hosted the 2013 Winter Universiade.

• Aosta, Italy^[2]

A public debate is promoted by a citizens' committee in the Italian region of Mont Blanc, in order to promote Aosta as the host the XXV Winter Olympics Games or a subsequent edition. The idea is to promote the games starting from the citizens in a bottom-up process, in order to involve all stakeholders. The Aosta Valley region's economy is mainly based on winter sports. Starting from 70's the main winter resorts hosted world events: Courmayeur hosted a round of the 1977 Alpine Skiing World Cup, Cervinia a round of the 1978 Alpine Skiing World Cup and bobsleigh's FIBT World Championships 1971, Cogne a round of the 1984–85 FIS Cross-Country World Cup and Fénis hosted in the 1986 FIL World Luge Natural Track Championships. In 1991 the city made a bid for the 1998 Winter Olympics, so a 2026 bid would be the city's second attempt. In 1993 Aosta hosted the first edition of the winter European Youth Olympic Festival and in 2010 it hosted the first edition of the Winet Military World Games. Considering the new rules of the IOC some structures of Turin that hosted the 2006 Winter Games are less than 100 km away and so they could be used as part of a new bid for the alpine city.

• Dresden, Germany

The mayor of Altenberg, Thomas Kirsten, announced in November 2013 after the Bavarians rejected a Munich bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Dresden is considered as host city due to its international reputation, airport and motorway infrastructure. Therefore it could serve as ideal location for an Olympic Village and the Main Press Center. Renowned venues such as Klingenthal, Oberwiesenthal, Altenberg, Zittau and Weißwasser could be used, as well as partnering venues in the Czech Republic for Alpine events,^[3] probably near Liberec as there are no suitable mountains near Dresden.

• Lviv, Ukraine

On 30 June 2014 Lviv decided to withdraw from 2022 Winter Olympics bid and will bid for 2026 Winter Olympics.^[4]

• Stockholm, Sweden

Sweden withdrew from the 2022 bid, but the Swedish NOC president did in December 2014 claim that Sweden could apply again, considering that the IOC want to reduce cost for organisers, which was the problem with the 2022 bid.^[5]

• Sion, Switzerland
• Davos, Switzerland

The Swiss Olympic Committee plans to make a decision about a bid, and select the candidate city, by spring 2016. Both cantons of Valais and Graubünden are interested. In Valais, the city of Sion is rumoured to be interested in bidding for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games. Sion previously bid for the games in 1976, 2002 and 2006. The Swiss city of Lausanne was awarded the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics.^[6] In Graubünden, the cities of Davos and Saint-Moritz could be interested in a bid.

• Trondheim, Norway and Åre, Sweden

A joint Norway-Sweden bid was proposed by a Norwegian College of Elite Sport top official Thorleif Gunhildrud. It was suggested to combine Trondheim and Åre which are about 100 miles apart, but it was said there had been no talks with Swedish officials so far. The Olympic Charter allows for the possibility of a Winter Olympics shared by two countries.^[7]

North America

• Calgary, Canada^[8]

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi confirmed on September 16th 2015 that a group of community leaders are working on a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Calgary was host of 1988 Winter Olympics.

• Quebec City, Canada

Quebec City initially expressed interest in bidding. In September 2011, Quebec City mayor Régis Labeaume ruled out bidding for 2022. However, the city may bid for another Winter Games in the future.^[9] Then-IOC President Jacques Rogge stated that he believes that the 2026 Winter Olympics would be a realistic option for the city to organize the games.^[10] Quebec has a problem finding a mountain for the downhill event, as the planned location of Le Massif was not approved.^[11] In September 2015, during an interview on Radio-Canada, Labeaume ruled out any possibility of Quebec making a bid for 2026.^[12]

• United States

In December 2012, Salt Lake City, Utah, host of the 2002 Winter Olympics, announced its intention to bid to become the U.S. nomination for the games.^[13] This came on the heels of the USOC announcing that it would not support a bid for the 2022 Olympics, but would support a 2024 or 2026 bid.^[14] Other cities that are considering bids include

• Reno–Lake Tahoe^[15]
• Denver^[16]
• Anchorage^[17]
• Lake Placid^[18][19][20]
• Bozeman^[18][19][20]

Denver originally won the hosting rights for the 1976 Winter Olympics, but relinquished the games after voters rejected the budget in a 1972 referendum.^[21][22] Anchorage lost bids to host the 1992 Winter Olympics and the 1994 Winter Olympics. A 23-member exploratory committee, which includes four Alaskan Olympians, met for the first time to delve into the finances and mechanics of pursuing the 2026 Winter Olympics.^[17][23][24] Boston was actively considering a bid for the 2026 Winter Games but this campaign was dropped when Boston was named the candidate city from the United States by the U.S.O.C. for the 2024 Summer Games.^[25] Boston's campaign for the 2024 Summer Olympics has since been suspended, but the USOC is now bidding to host the Games in Los Angeles.

South America

• Patagonia, Argentina^[26]

In October 2014 the Argentine Olympic Committee (COA) revealed the plan to use the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics, to be held in Buenos Aires, as the launchpad for a bid in the near future. The Committee identified Argentina's south-eastern region of Patagonia, which comprises the southern section of the Andes mountains, as a possible location to host the Winter Games. In 2010 it was suggested that Ushuaia would be the main option for a bid.^[27]

• Santiago, Chile

After an interview with then International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge during the 2012 Olympic Games in London discussions were started about how to organize Winter Olympics in the southern hemisphere for the first time. During the interview conditions in the Andes were highlighted as very suitable to stage snow sports events but a lack of existing venues for the ice sport events was identified as well.^[28]

Asia

• Sapporo, Japan^[29]

Representatives from Sapporo in Japan, host of the 1972 Winter Games, told that the city is considering a bid for the 2026 or 2030 Winter Olympics.

Cancelled potential bids

• Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona (where the 1992 Summer Olympics had been held) had waged a bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics, but, according to mayor Xavier Trias, was not considered ready yet. Instead, one "must concentrate its efforts and commitment to work to reach the Olympic target by 2026".^[30] On 17 June 2015 Barcelona announced it will not be bidding to host the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. Mayor Ada Colau who won the municipal elections on May 24 decided that this is not a priority project for the city.^[31] On 24 July, the city council acorded to create a specific comission about the social and economic impact of the bid.^[32]

• Auckland and Queenstown, New Zealand

A "pre-feasibility" report was published in May 2015 stating that a joint Winter Olympics Games with Australia would be feasible for 2026.^[33] Bruce McGechan, in a news release on 26 June 2015, said that the New Zealand Olympic Committee had considered the report but had decided not to ask the New Zealand Government to do a full feasibility study of hosting the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. Therefore the Olympic Winter Games NZ 2026 project was shelved.

Broadcasting

•  Brazil – Grupo Globo^[34]
•  United States – NBC^[35]

References

Olympic Games Bids Ceremonies Charter Colonialism Diploma Participating nations Summer Olympics Winter Olympics Host cities IOC NOCs Country codes Medal Medal tables Medalists Scandals Special medals Sports Symbols Torch relays Venues Women WWI deaths Summer Games 1896 Athens 1900 Paris 1904 St. Louis 1908 London 1912 Stockholm 1916 (n/h) 1920 Antwerp 1924 Paris 1928 Amsterdam 1932 Los Angeles 1936 Berlin 1940 (n/h) 1944 (n/h) 1948 London 1952 Helsinki 1956 Melbourne 1960 Rome 1964 Tokyo 1968 Mexico City 1972 Munich 1976 Montreal 1980 Moscow 1984 Los Angeles 1988 Seoul 1992 Barcelona 1996 Atlanta 2000 Sydney 2004 Athens 2008 Beijing 2012 London 2016 Rio de Janeiro 2020 Tokyo 2024 2028 Winter Games 1924 Chamonix 1928 St. Moritz 1932 Lake Placid 1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1940 (n/h) 1944 (n/h) 1948 St. Moritz 1952 Oslo 1956 Cortina 1960 Squaw Valley 1964 Innsbruck 1968 Grenoble 1972 Sapporo 1976 Innsbruck 1980 Lake Placid 1984 Sarajevo 1988 Calgary 1992 Albertville 1994 Lillehammer 1998 Nagano 2002 Salt Lake City 2006 Turin 2010 Vancouver 2014 Sochi 2018 Pyeongchang 2022 Beijing 2026 Ancient Olympic Games Intercalated Games 1906 Paralympic Games Youth Olympic Games