Unhappy against Milan for the 2026 Winter Olympics, Sweden announced on Wednesday that it was considering a bid for the next edition, that of 2030, for which the contenders have melted like snow in the sun.
In the United States, Salt Lake City, the only one still officially in the race, now expresses a preference for 2034. Long favorite, the Japanese city of Sapporo put its candidacy on hold at the end of 2022, shaken by a corruption scandal which agitates the Japanese Olympism.
“There is an opening”, noted the president of the Swedish Olympic Committee, Anders Larsson, during a press conference, announcing the holding of a “preliminary study” by the summer on a possible Swedish candidacy .
“Hopefully it will lead to a bid, and hopefully that will lead to hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sweden,” he added.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) postponed last December its decision on the allocation of the host city of 2030, initially planned for this year and now expected in 2024.
The organization with the five rings is also considering a double allocation for 2030 and 2034 in order to establish “a climate of stability”, while climate change further aggravates the shortage of candidates for its winter high mass.
“It is a nagging problem: what will become of the Winter Olympics if there is no more snow? notes Jean-Loup Chappelet, specialist in Olympism at the University of Lausanne.
Especially since their organization also requires three pieces of equipment that are as expensive as they are difficult to reuse: “a covered speed skating ring, a ski jumping hill and a bobsleigh track”.
Multiple failures
Beijing, host city of the last edition (2022), had only Almaty as its only rival.
Salt Lake City, a candidate known for several years and already host in 2002, remains in the running for 2030 so far, but prefers the 2034 edition to avoid proximity to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Other possible applications had already been withdrawn recently, such as that of Vancouver (Canada) and a project bringing together the Spanish cities of Barcelona and Zaragoza.
After a black series of Olympic disappointments, does Sweden finally have a chance? The IOC itself looks favorably on the bid, according to Mr. Larsson, who referred to “an informal exchange involving the start of a conversation”.
However, the Swedish government has shown very cautious support for the initiative. “Many of us love the Olympics, but no one wants to make a hasty decision,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told the TT news agency.
The Stockholm municipality’s finance officer, Karin Wanngård, has already indicated that financial guarantees from the state will be essential.
The Swedish capital has already hosted the Summer Olympics in 1912, but Sweden has – paradoxically enough – never organized the Winter Games.
Still snowy winters
The Nordic country, a great fan of winter sports (cross-country skiing, hockey, etc.), and whose northern half is still guaranteed snowy winters, had already been a candidate for the Winter Games of 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998 and 2002, without success.
Four years ago, Milan was preferred to the bid associating Stockholm with the winter sports resort of Åre, located in the north-west of the country and host of the 2019 Alpine Ski Worlds.
The Swedish candidacy had suffered from mixed support in public opinion and from problems with the municipality of Stockholm.
For 2030, the Swedish committee has not yet decided with certainty which cities could be selected, even if the IOC has told it that it appreciated the “concept” of the 2026 ticket.
The last Olympic Games in Scandinavia date back to 1994, held in Lillehammer, Norway, and considered by many experts to be the most successful in history, by their dream setting as well as by the jubilant crowds along the tracks.
Sweden can also offer the assurance of an established democracy, against a backdrop of recurring controversies surrounding major sporting events organized by authoritarian or hereditary regimes.
“Sweden stands for democracy and has great value in sport and human rights,” Åsa Llinares Norlin, a member of the country’s Olympic committee, told AFP.