Stockholm is one of four cities that has expressed interest in hosting the '26 Winter GamesGETTY IMAGES
The IOC is doing a "total rethink" over the way future Games are presented to potential host cities, and "how they're sold to the public," according to Stephen Wade of the AP. The IOC is "trying to rebrand, billing itself as user friendly and at the service of host cities -- and not the other way around." IOC officials are "talking up flexibility and cost cutting, trying to change the IOC's image of pressuring cities to build new sports venues that quickly become unused 'white elephants.'" Four cities have "shown preliminary interest" in hosting the '26 Games: Stockholm; Calgary; Sion, Switzerland; and Sapporo, Japan. IOC Olympic Games Exec Dir Christophe Dubi said that Norway, Austria and the U.S. had also "shown some interest" -- if not for '26, then for '30. But USOC officials said that the country "won't bid" for the '26 Games. Salt Lake City, Denver and Reno are "expected to consider" '30 bids. Former IOC VP John Coates joked that "letting cities talk informally before bidding formally with the IOC eliminated 'the schmoozing' and back-scratching that has gone on, driving up costs for cities that eventually win the bid -- and even for losing cities that don't." The IOC last year awarded two Summer Olympics simultaneously to Paris and L.A. -- '24 and '28 -- in "one bid process." But Dubi said that it was "'too early to speculate' if it might do the same" for the '26 and '30 Winter Games (AP, 2/14).
CHECKING THINGS OUT: CTV NEWS' Jackie Dunham noted Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi this week has been touring the Pyeongchang Games on a "fact-finding mission" to determine Calgary’s suitability for hosting the Games. Nenshi said, "We’ve done a ton of work and we’re very confident we can host an excellent Games, the question is: should we?" Nenshi and the rest of the delegation have been "meeting with IOC organizers in Pyeongchang to see how the Olympics operate and how any lessons learned from the current Games might apply to Calgary." The hope is that the city will be "able to cut down on costs by using its existing infrastructure" (CTVNEWS.ca, 2/13). A CALGARY HERALD editorial notes Nenshi is "among eight officials sent by the city, in addition to delegates" from Canmore, Canada and the provincial and federal governments. Nenshi said one of the big reasons for the trip was to "really look eyeball to eyeball with the folks involved in the Olympic movement to try and understand that commitment to reform a bit better.” He added, “I am much more comfortable now, having been here, that they are, in fact, entirely sincere and really, really want the Olympics to change, for the Olympics to be different, to be more cost-effective, to be more efficient” (CALGARY HERALD, 2/14).
