Sapporo welcomes IOC inspectors this week to showcase venues for 2030 Winter Olympic bid

IOC’s visit will focus on existing facilities and infrastructure in Hokkaido, Japan’s northern most island

Guardar
Asia; Japan; Hokkaido; Hakodate Bay night view (Grosby)
Asia; Japan; Hokkaido; Hakodate Bay night view (Grosby)

Officials from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will begin another round of inspections this week of 2030 Olympic bid hopeful Sapporo, Japan.

During the three-day visit, IOC officials are scheduled to review the city’s transportation system, ingress and egress from venues along with other infrastructure inspections.

The three-member team plans to visit 16 venues in Japan’s norther region of Hokkaido, of which Sapporo is the capital.

Sapporo, which hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics, already has world class ski venues in place, while bobsleigh and sledding are proposed to be held in Nagano, which hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics.

The IOC’s visit will focus on gathering feedback for the members of the Future Host Commission about the conditions of the current conditions of the facilities in Hokkaido.

The region is renowned for its ski facilities, especially Rusutsu and Niseko, which are praised by skiers and snowboarders worldwide as some of the best quality snow in the world.

The Niseko facility specifically will be toured as it is slated to host the alpine and downhill ski events. The island’s southwestern city of Obihiro will also be on the docket as it would host the speed skating competitions.

The existing infrastructure bolsters Sapporo’s hopes under the new IOC guidelines bid process.

The only venue that will not be toured is the Sapporo Dome, which is currently occupied with the J1 professional soccer season.

The Sapporo Dome has already been vetted by the IOC and would only conduct the opening and closing ceremonies of the winter games.

“It is no longer about building something for the event, but it’s about hosting the event to build the city,” noted Yasuhiro Yamashita, the head of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) noted earlier this month.

Sapporo also impressed the IOC during the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics as the host venue for race walking and the marathon.

Eliud Kipchoge, of Kenya, grabs a water bottle during the men's marathon at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021, in Sapporo, Japan.(AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
Eliud Kipchoge, of Kenya, grabs a water bottle during the men's marathon at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021, in Sapporo, Japan.(AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

In addition to Salt Lake City, Utah, which has already hosted the IOC in its proposed bid, Vancouver, Canada and Spain’s Aragon region have also expressed their interest in hosting the Winter Olympics in 2030.

The IOC may choose the venue for the 2030 Winter Olympics during a meeting in Mumbai, India, in May 2023. The meeting will also give the IOC members approval for recommendations of its executive board.

Guardar

Últimas Noticias

Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons

Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons

Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024

She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024

Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris

Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris

Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years

The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years

Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”

The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”