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A total of seven bids were initially submitted for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Four of the bids were subsequently withdrawn after entering the candidature stage, leaving Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy and Stockholm–Åre, Sweden as the only two remaining candidate bids. Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo was elected as the host city at the 134th IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 June 2019.
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| XXV Olympic Winter Games XIV Paralympic Winter Games | |
| |
| Winner: Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo Runner-up: Stockholm–Åre | |
| Details | |
| Committee | IOC |
| Election venue | 134th IOC Session Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Map of the bidding cities | |
 | |
| Important dates | |
| Bid | 29 September 2017 |
| Shortlist | October 2018 |
| Decision | 24 June 2019 |
| Decision | |
| Winner | Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo (47 votes) |
| Runner-up | Stockholm–Åre (34 votes) |
The IOC Executive Board met in Lausanne to discuss the 2026 bidding process on 9 June 2017; and a new approach was approved at the Extraordinary IOC Session on 11–12 July 2017.[1] The IOC would take a more proactive role in assisting and supporting cities considering a candidature for the 2026 Olympics, and would customise its approach to the needs of the cities in order for them to develop the best value proposition. These measures were designed to lead to a simplified process for the cities, with reduced costs. The Invitation Phase had been extended to one year, starting 13 September 2017, and the Candidature Phase has been shortened to one year, starting from 2018 to 2019.[1] These measures were enacted due to a lack of interest in bidding for the 2026 Games well into 2017.
In October 2018, the IOC appointed the following members and stakeholder representatives to the Evaluation Commission that will assess the candidate cities for the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games.[2]
Octavian Morariu: Chair
Kristin Kloster Aasen: IOC member
Zhang Hong: IOC member
Roman Kumpost: Stakeholder representative
Heike Größwang: Stakeholder representative
Marianna Davis: Stakeholder representative
Lee Hee-beom: Stakeholder representative
José Luis Marco: Stakeholder representativeMilan–Cortina d'Ampezzo was selected as host city of the 2026 Winter Olympics after beating Stockholm–Åre by 13 votes on 24 June 2019 at the 134th IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland.[3] The host city was originally due to be selected on 11 September 2019, at the 134th IOC Session in Milan; however, IOC rules required that the election be moved to a different location after Italy submitted a bid for the 2026 Games that included the city.[4]
The IOC voted to select the host city of the 2026 Winter Olympics on 24 June 2019 at the 134th IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland.
| 2026 Winter Olympics bidding results[5] | ||
|---|---|---|
| City | Nation | Votes |
| Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo |  Italy |
47 |
| Stockholm–Åre |  Sweden |
34 |
A firm criterion for the Winter Olympics is the availability of alpine ski slopes of certain sizes, which narrows down potential locations significantly, and often necessitates locations in less populated areas. The men's downhill requires at least 800 metres (2,600 ft) altitude difference along a course of around 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) in length.[6]
For the 2026 Winter Olympics the IOC allowed a longer distance between events, so that alpine skiing can be held in a mountain area, and sports such as ice hockey and figure skating can be held in a large city more than 160 kilometres (99 mi) away where such arenas are already available or have greater usage after the games.
A certain spectator capacity is required, which is most often 10,000 but varies according to the particular sport. Furthermore, certain VIP areas are required at every venue.
On 2 July 2018, the IOC announced that it would contribute US$925 million to the host city in order to help reduce costs.[7]
The following cities participated in the dialogue stage.[8] Four of these (Calgary, Sapporo, Sion, and Stockholm) joined the dialogue stage at its launch on 29 September 2017, and took part in the PyeongChang 2018 Observer Programme.[9] The other cities joined in time for the deadline (31 March 2018) for entering the candidature stage.
Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy Stockholm–Åre, Sweden
Three of the four cities that still remained in the dialogue stage in October 2018 were invited by the IOC to join the candidature stage; these were Calgary, Stockholm, and the joint Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo bid. Erzurum was the only city remaining in the dialogue stage that was not invited to advance.[15] Calgary withdrew its bid on 19 November 2018, and Stockholm created a joint bid with Åre on 11 January 2019 to become Stockholm–Åre 2026.
The candidate cities were required to fulfill their governmental requirements by 11 January 2019.
| City | Country | National Olympic Committee | Bid Committee Website | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo | Italy |
Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) | milanocortina2026.coni.it | Winner | |
|
In June 2017, the president of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), Giovanni Malagò, proposed a bid for Milan to host the 2026 Winter Olympics. Malagò considered Milan together with Valtellina as suitable candidates. The plan was for Milan to host the ice sports, while the snow sports would take place in Bormio, Santa Caterina di Valfurva, and Livigno, which are already well-known destinations for Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, biathlon, etc.[16][17] On 10 March 2018, the mayor of Turin, Chiara Appendino, confirmed that a bid to host the Games on the 20th anniversary of the 2006 Winter Olympics was being explored.[18][non-primary source needed] She suggested that the bid would introduce a new, revolutionary model for hosting the Games, with sustainability at the forefront.[19] On 17 March, Appendino sent a letter to CONI officially expressing her support, after having resolved an initial split in support amongst fellow council members.[20] The following week, the municipal council gave approval to start the procedure for establishing a "Torino 2026" association. The not-for-profit entity would have the task of overseeing the analysis and research necessary to evaluate the feasibility of an eventual candidature of Turin to host the Winter Olympics.[21] On 29 March, two days before the deadline for cities to join the dialogue stage, it was confirmed that CONI would bid to host the 2026 Games in Milan and Turin, and that a letter of intent had been sent to the IOC.[22] The bid was complicated by the fact that the 134th IOC Session was scheduled to be held in Milan in 2019. According to IOC rules, if an Italian city proceeded to the candidature stage, the venue for the IOC session would need to be changed to a different country. A decision on which city would lead the potential Italian bid for the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games was to be made on either 1 August or 17 September 2018.[23] At a conference on 4 July 2018, Appendino presented the "Turin 2026" project and its candidacy, describing the opportunity of a double candidature with Milan as "a chit-chat of the press I haven't seen yet". On 1 August 2018, CONI confirmed that all bidding cities would bid jointly, using existing facilities, and presented a proposal for a combined bid to be launched by Milan, Turin and Cortina d'Ampezzo.[24][25] CONI then announced on 18 September that it would present a joint bid with just Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, since the city of Turin had chosen to withdraw from the bidding process.[26] The next day, Italian Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini, confirmed that the Italian government would support a 2026 Winter Olympics bid. Furthermore, CONI were open to accepting an eventual return of Turin to the joint Italian bid.[27][28] On 1 October 2018, CONI provided final confirmation of the Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo bid for the 2026 Olympics. Although the bid received the Italian government's endorsement, no financial investment was to be provided by the government. However, the regions of Lombardy and Veneto would aim to finance the 2026 Games with private and public investments.[29][30][31] On 5 April 2019, the Italian government made a commitment to provide financial support for the Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo bid.[32] | |||||
| Stockholm and Åre | Sweden |
Swedish Olympic Committee (SOC) | stockholm-are2026.com | Runner up | |
|
Stockholm withdrew its bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics in January 2014, but the president of the Swedish Olympic Committee (SOC) claimed in December 2014 that Sweden could apply again, given that the IOC wants to reduce the cost of the Games for organisers, which was the problem with the 2022 bid.[33] The SOC agreed to conduct a feasibility study on a potential bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics.[34] On 31 January 2017, during the semi-final allocation draw for the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, it was announced by the president of the Stockholm City Council, Eva-Louise Erlandsson Slorach, that Stockholm would not seek to host the 2026 Winter Games. Despite this, the SOC continued to work on the application and, while there was no official commitment from the political parties, the SOC was committed to convincing the city of Stockholm and other involved municipalities to support the revival of Stockholm's bid to host the Winter Games.[35] The alpine events were planned to be held in Åre, a ski resort that is 520 km (323 mi) away from Stockholm, at least three hours travel time by air and car. On 21 February 2018, Richard Brisius announced that the SOC had entered talks with the Latvian Olympic Committee for potential hosting of the bobsleigh, skeleton and luge events at the Sigulda bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track, 465 km (289 mi) from Stockholm,[36] a proposal that was supported by the Latvian government.[37] The Stockholm bid encountered problems with popular and political support, namely with the reshuffling of the governing coalition in the Stockholm City Council by the Green Party and the Alliance who expressed joint opposition to hosting the 2026 Games.[38] On 11 January 2019, while submitting the bid book, Stockholm 2026 was renamed "Stockholm–Åre 2026" as a joint bid with Åre. On 9 April, the Swedish government agreed to provide the guarantees necessary for the Stockholm–Åre bid to move forward.[39] | |||||
The following cities were seen as potential bids and took part in the dialogue stage, but have withdrawn for various reasons.
| City | Country | National Olympic Committee | Bid Committee Website | Withdrawn Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary | Canada |
Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) | calgary2026.ca | 19 November 2018 | |
|
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi confirmed on 16 September 2015 that a group of community leaders were working on a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics.[40] In June 2016, Calgary City Council approved spending of up to Can$5 million on a 15-month bid exploration phase.[41] It was proposed that Calgary would either build new centres and arenas—for example, the controversial CalgaryNEXT arena, which is a field house, multi-purpose arena, ice hockey arena and football stadium combined, planned for the Downtown/Sunalta neighbourhood—or repurpose the arenas/event stages previously used for the 1988 Winter Olympics.[42] John Furlong, CEO of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, helped Calgary by running a group for the Canadian Olympic Committee.[43] On 20 November 2017, Calgary City Council officially voted to approve the additional funding of Can$2 million to support the bid, provided that the federal and provincial governments also supported the bid before January 2018.[44] To help reduce costs, it was proposed that some alpine/ski-jump events be held in Whistler, B.C, and other events be held in venues located in Edmonton to reduce the number of new buildings and infrastructure that would need to be built in Calgary.[45] On 16 April 2018, the city council voted 9–6 to continue working on the potential bid, despite fears that their support would be withdrawn. The Alberta and Canadian government also said they would financially support the bid, pledging an estimated Can$30 million.[46] On 23 April 2018, the city council overwhelmingly voted yes to holding a plebiscite (or a public vote) on whether or not the citizens supported Calgary's decision to host the Winter Games. It was expected to cost around Can$2 million.[47][48] On 8 June 2018, Calgary announced Scott Hutcheson, a former alpine skier, to be a chairperson for the Olympic Bid Corporation.[49] On 24 June 2018, the Canadian Olympic Committee announced its approval for the 2026 bid.[50] On 1 August 2018, a date of 13 November 2018 was announced for the plebiscite. The city council would vote on the bid again in September, which could cancel the plebiscite and the bid altogether depending on the outcome.[51] On 11 September 2018, the Calgary 2026 team publicly unveiled its draft host plan at City Hall at a projected cost of Can$5.2 billion, of which Can$3 billion would be split between Government of Canada, Province of Alberta and City of Calgary. Events would be hosted in Calgary, Canmore, Whistler and possibly Edmonton.[52] That same night, the city council voted 12–3 to continue the process and let the voters decide on 13 November 2018.[53] On 29 October 2018, after a period of unsatisfactory financial negotiations between the federal, provincial and municipal levels of government, Calgary City Council was advised to cancel the plebiscite and abandon the 2026 Olympic bid altogether.[54] However, on 30 October 2018, it was announced that a funding deal had been met. After uncertainty about securing the funding, the city council voted 8–7 in favour of the motion to halt the process, but it was not enough to meet the supermajority requirement of 10 votes. In the non-binding referendum on 13 November 2018,[55][56][57] the polls indicated that 56 percent of voters were against continuing the Olympic bid.[58] The city council voted to withdraw the Olympic bid on 19 November 2018.[10] | |||||
| Erzurum | Turkey |
Turkish Olympic Committee (TNOC) | 4 October 2018 | ||
|
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced the country was considering a bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympics in the eastern provinces of Erzurum, Erzincan and Kars. Although Istanbul had made several attempts to host the Summer Olympics and lost to Sydney for 2000, Beijing for 2008 and Tokyo for 2020, it would be Turkey's first bid for the Winter Games. Erzurum previously hosted the 2011 Winter Universiade and the 2017 European Youth Winter Olympic Festival.[59] On 30 March, just hours ahead of the deadline, it was officially announced that Erzurum was confirmed as a candidate to host the 2026 Games, having received backing from Turkey's president.[60] On 4 October 2018 Erzurum was not selected to advance to the next stage due to lack of transport, telecommunications and airports.[11] | |||||
| Sapporo | Japan |
Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) | 13 September 2018 | ||
|
Representatives from Sapporo in Japan, host of the 1972 Winter Games, stated that the city was considering a bid for the 2026 or 2030 Winter Olympics. The city predicted it might cost as much as 456.5 billion yen (US$4.3 billion) to host the Games and, according to a report published on 12 May 2016, they planned to have 90 percent of the facilities within half an hour of the Olympic village. The Alpine skiing course would be in Niseko, the world's second-snowiest resort, while the Olympic village would be next to the Sapporo Dome.[61] The plans were presented to the Japanese Olympic Committee on 8 November 2016,[62][63] and Sapporo gained approval from the JOC on 15 November 2017.[64] For the sliding events, it was reported that Sapporo could either use the Nagano Bobsleigh-Luge Park (as part of an IOC initiative to use pre-existing venues to keep costs down) or build a dedicated venue in Sapporo.[65] Sapporo Teine, which hosted the bobsleigh events at the 1972 Winter Olympics, was demolished in 1991, while the separate sliding venue, used for luge, was closed shortly after the conclusion of the Games.[66] Sapporo withdrew from the 2026 race on 13 September 2018, in favour of bidding for the 2030 Games.[12][67] | |||||
| Graz | Austria |
Austrian Olympic Committee (ÖOC) | austria2026.at | 6 July 2018 | |
|
After the failed public vote in Innsbruck and Tyrol for hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics, the Styrian cities of Graz and Schladming, which previously hosted the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games, were planning on bidding to host the Games as an initiative called "Austria 2026". Predominantly, existing venues would be used. While Graz would host indoor ice events (figure skating, short track, curling), Schladming would be the venue for alpine skiing. Other venues might include Kreischberg (freestyle skiing and snowboard), Bischofshofen and Ramsau am Dachstein (ski jumping, cross country skiing, nordic combined), and Hochfilzen (biathlon). Austrian cities like Vienna, Linz, Klagenfurt or Kapfenberg could host the ice hockey tournament. The possibility of some events taking place in Germany (speed skating in Inzell and luge, bobsleigh, and skeleton in Schönau am Königssee) is also under consideration.[68][69] The potential bid was very controversial in Austria, as the mayors of Graz and Schladming started to plan the bid without informing the national government or the state government. Anton Lang, state treasurer of Styria, had already announced that the state has no financial leeway for hosting the Olympics.[70] Heinz Christian Strache, Austria's federal minister for sports, also had doubts: After the public vote against a bid in Innsbruck, he said, before Graz and Schladming bid for the Winter Olympics, they needed to find out if Austria supported the action.[71][72] On 19 March 2018, the Communist Party of Austria called for a referendum over Graz's 2026 bid. On 6 July 2018, the Austrian Olympic Committee announced that Graz had withdrawn their bid due to lack of support from the Provincial Government.[13] | |||||
| Sion | Switzerland |
Swiss Olympic Association (SOA) | sion2026.ch | 10 June 2018 | |
|
The Swiss Olympic Association made a general decision about launching a bid during the Sportparlament on 11 March 2016. Five candidate projects handed their letters of intent to the Association before the deadline of 31 May 2016,[73] and were given until 15 December 2016 to forward their bid files.[74] However, the Central Switzerland project withdrew in July 2016 after Lucerne was awarded the 2021 Winter Universiade, and three others projects merged, resulting in two final candidates: Western Switzerland and Graubünden.The chosen candidate city had to be confirmed by the Association by 7 March 2017.[75][76] The bid Graubünden and Partners was rejected during a public referendum on 12 February 2017, leaving the Western Switzerland bid as only contendent. Sion was chosen to be the host city against Montreux, after Lausanne and Crans-Montana withdrew.[77] The bid included venues within a square area defined at its corners by the cities of Lausanne, Martigny, Visp and Bern.[78] Sion previously bid to host the Winter Olympics in 1976, 2002 and 2006, but lost out to Denver (Innsbruck), Salt Lake City and Turin respectively. The Canton of Valais held a referendum on 10 June 2018 to decide the fate of the 2026 Winter Games bid,[79] and in February 2018, four months before the vote, the polls indicated that 64 percent of voters were against the bid. On 10 June 2018, voters rejected a proposal to fund the 2026 Winter Games with 53.96% of voters refused to pledge financial support for the games. Sion Mayor Philippe Varone stated that since there was no back up plan, Switzerland officially withdrew from potentially bidding.[14] | |||||
The following cities initially explored the possibility of bidding but decided not to proceed to the dialogue stage.
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada Multiple cities, United States
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Lake Placid, New York, United States
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States Norway:Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
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