2018 Winter Olympics
The 2018 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXIII Olympic Winter Games, will be celebrated in 2018, and are an international winter sports athletic event that has yet to be organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The organization, under the leadership of Jacques Rogge, is currently preparing to mount calls for cities to bid for hosting the event. The deadline for bids is January 2009. The winning bid will be announced in 2011 at the 123rd IOC Session in Durban, South Africa.
Potential bids
Asia
Almaty bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics, but did not make the short list. Meanwhile, it will gain valuable experience hosting the 2011 Asian Winter Games. Some of the venues to be used are the outdoors Medeo ice skating rink and Shymbulak Ski Resort.
He Zhenliang, China's senior International Olympic Committee member, announced interest on the eve of the 2007 Asian Winter Games in Changchun. Another possibility is Harbin, China's "Ice City", which bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics, but did not make the short list. Harbin is currently a candidate for the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics.
After narrowly losing twice in bidding for the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics, Governor Jin-sun Kim of Gangwon Province announced in September 2007 that Pyeongchang will definitely bid a third time. He quoted increased knowledge of the bid process and the still high enthusiasm of residents (87.7% of Korean and 77.3% of Gangwon residents) as signs to keep trying. Presidential candidates and politicians have since questioned his premature announcement and probed bookkeeping issues. Pyeongchang restated its intention to bid in June 2008.
According to one IOC member, Pyeongchang will need to find a new angle for its third bid, as its theme of bringing peace to the Korean peninsula runs the risk of sounding stale if stressed for a third time.
Europe
On July 4, 2007 Sochi, Russia was selected to host the 2014 Winter Olympics. Although the IOC does not have a formal rotation policy, awarding games back to back on one continent has been uncommon after World War II, lessening chances of European candidates.When Sochi, Russia was revealed to host the 2014 Winter Games, Sveriges Radio announced that a bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics will be investigated by SOK (The Swedish Olympic Committee) together with the Swedish government.
The Ukrainian government announced in 2006 that Ukraine’s popular Bukovel ski and snowboard resort is expanding to in anticipation of Ukraine bidding to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. The additional land will be used for the construction of several new ski lifts and service projects. Previously, the land was a government-managed forest area. Bukovel has also plans to build an Olympic winter stadium in preparation for a possible bid.
Located just near the highest mountain of Western Anatolia, some of the events would be held at the Uludağ National Park.
At first, the French Olympic Committee was quite reluctant in bidding for a Winter Games, preferring to focus on a bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. However, three cities expressed interest in hosting the 2018 games. On September 24, 2008, the Olympic Committee announced it had granted these wishes and would bid in 2011. The following cities expressed their interest:
- * Annecy - Intended to bid for the 2014 Games.
- * Grenoble - Host of the 1968 Winter Olympics
- * Nice
- * Gap looked at the idea of a bid, but withdrew it in September 2008.
Geneva is launching a bid pending a public referendum. Geneva's plans include hosting alpine events at Crans-Montana, two hours from the city, and possibly the resorts of Verbier and Vernayaz as well.
Munich hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics, and would be the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Games. Berlin and Hamburg were considering of a summer games bid for 2024 or 2028, but the German Olympic Committee is putting the Munich bid first. With Salzburg's failure to capture the 2014 bid, Germany feels it has a better chance and would prefer the Olympics sooner rather than later. Munich has a strong ally with IOC vice president Thomas Bach (speculated to succeed IOC president Jacques Rogge), who could swing the vote to Munich, even though the 2014 Games will have been held in Europe as well. Nevertheless, Munich is already considering a bid for 2022 if this bid fails. The slogan of the game is "Die Spiele im Herzen" (The games in the heart).
Sofia has announced its intention to bid. Despite its disappointment after Bulgaria’s third unsuccessful bid for the Winter Games, Vessela Lecheva, BOC chairwoman announced plans to have at least one project for a multifunctional hall in Sofia to improve chances. The 10,000 capacity hall will be constructed near Tsarigradsko Shosse, Sofia’s busiest thoroughfare. The government of Serbia has suggested a joint bid, an idea supported by the President of Bulgaria, Georgi Parvanov. The alpine area is the mountain Stara Planina located on the border of the two countries. The IOC does not recognise joint bids between two nations.
Bohinj mayor Franc Kramar has supported the idea with seven other mayors in Upper Carniola region. The Slovenia Olympic Committee has not made any statement yet. Proposed Olympic village towns are Bled or capital Ljubljana. Biathlon would take place on Pokljuka, ski jumping in Planica, alpine skiing in Kranjska Gora and Maribor, cross-country skiing on Krvavec mountain and indoor sports in Ljubljana, Kranj and Jesenice.
There are unofficial initiatives and talks to present Zaragoza, the capital city of Aragon, as a candidate. Zaragoza played a significant role in Jaca’s failed bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics, as Zaragoza, 142 km south of Jaca, was expected to host most of the ice events and the opening and closing ceremonies, in contradiction to the Olympic Charter. In an hypothetic Zaragoza bid, alpine events would still place take place around Jaca and other sites in the Aragonese Pyrenees, connected to the city by highways and high-speed trains. Following the organization of Expo 2008, the mayor of Zaragoza, Juan Alberto Belloch, has announced further projects to boost the city's standing, projects that will be defined in the next months. Madrid’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics is, however, the priority of the Spanish Olympic movement.
North America
A successful bid would be the fifth time the Winter Olympics would be held in the United States. A US bid will be influenced by the success or failure of the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid. If Chicago wins the Summer Olympics, the USOC will not bid until the 2022 Winter Olympics.
- Denver was chosen to host the 1976 Winter Olympics, but eventually declined the games, enraging the IOC, and casting doubt over any future bids. However, Denver believes enough time has gone by to try again. Denver's strong history of hosting large sporting events is a big strength of the city. With nearly a dozen world class ski areas within less than a two hour drive of the city and the venues and infrastructure, with Denver International Airport, to support an Olympic games gives Denver a strong bid.
- The resort region around Lake Tahoe on the California-Nevada border has formed the Reno-Tahoe Winter Games Coalition to investigate a bid for 2018. They cited benefits which include close mountains, environmental regulations, and a compact bid. With regards to traffic issues Reno not only has an international airport, a railroad, and highways but also annually hosts one of the largest automobile events in the world with Hot August Nights. Squaw Valley, which hosted the 1960 Winter Olympics, is on the California side of Lake Tahoe.
- Hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics, is interested in hosting again.
South America
Santiago is a potential candidate for 2018 or 2022. Chile is hosting the World Youth Downhill Skiing 2010. In the next months, the Chilean Ski Federation will choose the candidate city from the winter centers of Chile's Thermal Baths, in the southern regions: the village of Pucon or the city of Chillán, or La Parva ski resort near Santiago. Santiago possesses excellent natural conditions and infrastructure, which some consider the best of the Southern Hemisphere. The Winter Games have never been held in the Southern Hemisphere or South America.
Oceania
According to 2007 reports, the New Zealand Olympic Committee is pushing for a bid for a Winter Olympic Games. Whilst no city has yet applied to the NZOC, suggestions include Queenstown and Dunedin, or a bid covering the whole of New Zealand, the country's South Island or the Otago and Southland regions. No certain specific Games has been specified, however 2018, 2022 or 2026 are most likely. A successful New Zealand bid would be the first Winter Olympics held in the Southern Hemisphere, the nation and the Oceania region.
Cancelled bids
Tromso's candidacy was announced on March 30, 2007 after beating Trondheim and the joint-bid Oslo-Lillehammer. It would have been the first games hosted north of the Arctic Circle. The bid become an issue of contention in Norway, as the high cost of the Games would affect funding of many of the rest of the country's sporting venues. National support was also low, with only 38% in favor of the bid; however bid head Petter Ranningen cited polls showing stronger support. On 6 October 2008, the Norwegian sports governing body announced that the application for Tromsø was to be withdrawn due to a lack of support from the individual Norwegian sporting organizations.
References
External links
- Tromsø 2018 Official Web Site
- Bursa 2018 web site (Turkish) (Discussion on 2018 Winter Olympics (Turkish))
- Annecy web site
- Gap 2018 web site
Eliminated candidates
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Monday October 06, 2008 at 07:42:32 PDT (GMT -0700)
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