According to the leaders of the Olympic movement, the bidding process for the Winter Games has been slowed down by the recent internal disputes within the Indian Olympic Committee, which underlines the importance of a in candidature which makes consensus and, also, which translates the admission of the existence of the climatic changes on planet.
But you also have to read between the lines: it has become practically impossible to find a place, besides Salt Lake City, that wants to host this sporting high mass.
This is a trend that has been emerging for decades, and which, according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), could reach its point of no return very soon. In fact, Olympics executive director Christophe Dubi floated at a meeting last week the idea that the list of candidate cities would become even shorter than the current list due to global warming — because fewer fewer Alpine towns are able to host the Olympic Games.
As a result, the Olympics may one day adopt a rotation system between a handful of cities. An idea that has been gaining ground for some time now, both for the Winter and Summer Games, in particular because of the disproportionate budgets that must be invested to build infrastructure and ensure the smooth running of sporting events.
“There is no decision yet, because we still have to discuss it,” noted Dubi.
For now, the plan is to announce the awarding of the 2030 Games and the 2034 Games at the same time, as the IOC did five years ago for the awarding of the 2024 and 2028 Olympics to Paris and Los Angeles, respectively.
It is unclear at this time when the 2030 and 2034 Winter Games will be awarded — the 2026 Winter Games will be held in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. They were due to be announced at an IOC meeting next year in India, but that summit meeting has been postponed indefinitely due to infighting within the country’s Olympic committee. These will have to be resolved so that the IOC can establish new deadlines.