Kasper Warning for 2026 Winter Olympics

(ATR) Ski federation chief Gian-Franco Kasper tells Around the Rings the Hamburg Olympic bid collapse could impact the 2026 Winter Games race.

Hamburg’s 2024 bid was killed by a 51.6 percent ‘No’ vote in Sunday’s referendum, raising questions about the IOC’s Agenda 2020 reforms and the affect of financial discussions on Olympic bidding.

Kasper noted that the $51 billion cost associated with the Sochi 2014 Games was partly to blame for a handful of cities quitting the 2022 race and may have influenced voters in Hamburg.

The IOC member from Switzerland said people had the perception that "budgets are never kept… there’s still the shock from Sochi which influences the opinion of people".

Kasper said people in European cities are "afraid of investing money on big projects they don’t know 100 percent about", with cost overruns always a possibility.

He said the Agenda 2020 principles were designed to open up different possibilities for cities, encouraging them to spend less money on bidding and staging the Games.

On the 2026 Winter Olympic race, he said it was "too early to say" if Hamburg’s collapse would deter cities from expressing an interest.

"We don’t know candidates… let’s see who’s coming," Kasper said.

But winter federations and the IOC will assess the gigantism of the Sochi Games, built from scratch with money no obstacle for Russia, on the 2026 Olympic race after its devastating impact on the 2022 contest. Only Almaty and Beijing were left to battle for hosting rights in the final six months after the favorite Oslo dropped out due to financing issues.

Sweden is examining another winter bid, Kasper confirmed, while Switzerland is also discussing a proposal.

He said the winter IFs were discussing with IOC "how we can make it more attractive to candidates… that means cost-cutting…"

The collapse of Hamburg’s Olympic dream was a major blow for the German sports movement. It followed the referendum that extinguished Munich’s 2022 Olympic mission two years’ ago.

Kasper doesn’t think Germany will consider an Olympic effort for some time as uncertainties about Hamburg’s bid costs dominate any conversations about another tilt at the Games. "At this moment it is difficult for Germany to convince people. But that can change," he added.

Also troubling for the winter federations and IOC is the proximity of the deadline for 2026 Winter Olympic applications with the end of the 2024 race in September 2017.

"One problem for 2026 is that our cold countries are almost all bidding for the [2024] Summer Games [Italy, France, USA]. So it’s not so easy," he said.

Kasper said the winter sport nations involved in 2024 bidding would likely find it "impossible" to put up a candidacy for 2026 a few months after the election. They would not jeopardize their summer campaigns by going public on winter bids: "They can’t have a Plan B."

"We have asked the IOC. It might be easier to have more time between the decision on summer [2024 games] and deadline for winter games," Kasper said, adding that he expected it to be discussed further with IOC officials in the New Year.

Written by Mark Bisson

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