Update 11/29: The IOC has picked France as their preferred host in 2030, and SLC as the preferred host for 2024, likely meaning that Switzerland won’t host.
A European country that’s known for its winter prowess could be the host of the 2030 or 2034 Olympic games.
Swissinfo reports that Switzerland’s sports federations unanimously approved moving forward with a bid for the 2030 or 2034 Winter Games. The $1.6 billion proposal bid is noticeable due to it being much cheaper than other past hosts. In fact, if they don’t exceed this price point, it would be the cheapest Olympics in modern history (we’re not going to factor in the games from Ancient Greece). For example, Phyeonchang’s 2018 games cost around $13 billion.
Other cities and countries that host events like the Olympics or the FIFA World Cup pay huge price tags and can feature rampant corruption. With this price tag, which will be paid mostly by the private sector, they are trying to quell local concerns that have become common with hosting the Olympics.
What will distinguish this bid is that the entire country will host, with the venues spread out across the Land of Milk & Honey. With the existing infrastructure already there, the Swiss believe this would be environmentally sustainable.
By the end of this month, the IOC is expected to announce which bids are moving forward in the selection process for the 2030 & 2034 games. Other interested bidders for 2030 include Stockholm-Åre in Sweden and a joint bid of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes/Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur in France. Salt Lake City is kinda interested in hosting the 2030 games but would prefer to host in 2034. In terms of the 2034 Olympics, it appears that Salt Lake City is the front-runner. If Switzerland were to push for the 2034 games, it could complicate things for the former U.S. host.
Image Credits: Victor He (Featuered Image), Renato Muolo (Header Image), Henrique Ferreira
