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PARIS: The International Olympic Committee said on Tuesday that its simultaneous awarding of the 2030 and 2034 Winter Olympics last month provided stability for the Olympic movement and did not rule out similar decisions for future Games.
The French Alps were chosen as the venue for the 2030 Olympics, while Salt Lake City, which hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics, was chosen for the 2034 Olympics.
This is the second time the IOC has decided on two host cities at the same time. As early as 2017, the IOC selected Paris and Los Angeles as the host cities for the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympics.
Jacqueline Barrett, International Olympic Committee president for future Olympic Games, told Reuters the decision was made after choosing between two strong proposals.
“We didn’t set out to get two projects at the same time,” Barrett said. “If special circumstances arise, we can take advantage of opportunities…Now we find ourselves with two great projects. We don’t think we want to give those up.”
She added: “It provides security for the future, primarily for the athletes, the Olympic Movement and the partners.”
The International Olympic Committee has now selected the hosts for all Summer and Winter Olympics until 2034, with Milan-Cortina in Italy set to host the 2026 Winter Olympics and Brisbane set to host the 2032 Summer Olympics.
In recent years, the International Olympic Committee has reformed its bidding process. It no longer requires candidates to compete publicly for two years before the International Olympic Committee votes. Instead, it first holds closed-door dialogues with relevant parties and then selects its preferred candidates, which are then voted on by International Olympic Committee members.
This has led to a significant reduction in the cost of bidding, which in the past could cost as much as $100 million and involve a lot of planning and consulting fees, which scared off many candidates.
In the case of the 2030 and 2034 Olympics, the IOC has ensured that two more Olympic Games will be held, and climate change will seriously affect potential candidate cities for the Winter Olympics.
Last year, the Future Hosts Commission released a report stating that rising global temperatures will pose a danger to the Winter Olympics. Since then, the International Olympic Committee is considering various ways to select future hosts.
These include rotating winter sports centres or sharing the Winter Olympics between countries using existing venues.
“We are looking at grouping, sharing or rotating. We are not limiting ourselves to one location,” she said.
Barrett said the IOC would not rule out another dual award in 2036 and 2040 if the opportunity arose.
Istanbul, India, Indonesia and Santiago, Chile have all officially announced their participation in the bid for the 2036 Olympics.
IOC President Thomas Bach said the number of cities interested in hosting the 2036 Olympics is now in the double digits, with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Germany and South Korea likely to receive more hosting rights.
“It very much depends on the sport,” Barrett said of the possible dual awards. “I don’t think the IOC would close the door on that, but it’s not an automatic response either.”
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