Lake Placid, New York — It’s been forty-four years since Lake Placid last hosted the Olympic games. Yet they seem as ready as ever to host them again. Through the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA), the State of New York has continuously invested in the facilities used in the 1980 Olympics. The benefit of these investments may come in 2026.
In February 2026, Italy is scheduled to host the Winter Olympics. As part of the bid, they planned to use the historic Eugenio Monti track in Cortino. However, it hadn’t been used for decades, and the pricepoint of restoring it was well above the initial estimates. Ultimately, the organizers tore the old course down and built a new one. The last update came from September, with officials saying that it’s on schedule and expected to achieve homologation in March 2025. However, the IOC has been frustrated with the 2026 hosts over how this process has gone, thus looking for a backup plan.
In response, it was announced this week that Lake Placid has officially become the Plan B site in case things go awry at Cortina.
“New York State is honoured to be selected, and we will work closely with Fondazione Milano Cortina to discuss the planning in a detailed manner to stage the Plan B back up plan,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochl.
There is precedent to hosting Olympic events in a location far away from the host city. This year, Tahiti hosted the surfing events for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Paris isn’t known for its surfing, so hosting it in Tahiti, which is French territory, made sense. The one flaw with the plan is it takes those who participate in the events from their teammates in Italy.
“It would create a different environment, a different Olympic experience in not being with the rest of Team USA,” said Scott Riewaals, who’s the CEO of USA Luge CEO, to the Associated Press. “But there’s nothing like competing at an Olympics on your home turf and on your home soil. And I think it presents some great opportunities for Team USA athletes and for USA Luge athletes to compete with the best in the world on a track where we’ve had success.”
Whether this happens or not, it shows that Lake Placid and New York could once again host the Olympics someday, even if it doesn’t have the snowiest climate like the host of the 2034 Olympics.
Image Credits: Olympic Regional Development Authority (Mt. Van Hoevenberg)
