Sapporo Mayor Announces City's Intention To Bid For 2026 Winter Olympics

The mayor of Sapporo, Japan, "announced his city’s intention to bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics," according to the AP. Sapporo, on Japan’s northernmost island Hokkaido, "hosted the Winter Olympics in 1972." Sapporo Mayor Fumio Ueda told a city assembly meeting Thursday that “hosting the Winter Games will lead Sapporo to a new stage.” The announcement comes at a time when "public opinion in some European cities has turned against bidding for the Olympics" in light of the $51B price tag associated with the 2014 Sochi Winter Games (AP, 11/28).