France announced its bid for the 2030 Winter Games: pros, cons and main candidates

France made official its intention to organize the 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games with a joint presentation of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regions. In this way, it will seek to organize the competition for the fourth time after Chamonix 1924, Grenoble 1968 and Albertville 1992.

David Lappartient, president of the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF), said that the nomination “is the symbol of France’s victory” and “the result of true collaborative work carried out since July. It is the expression of our ambition, to co-build the Games of tomorrow, to transform them into opportunities for sports, athletes, territories and societies.”

At its last meeting in Mumbai, India, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) established two criteria for hosting future Winter Games: for reasons of sustainability, the host should aim to use only existing or temporary venues, and competition venues should be climatically reliable until at least the middle of the century (artificial snow was used in Beijing 2022). France is committed to meeting these two requirements.

“For winter Paralympic sports, winning these Games would be another fundamental step in their development, which is still in its infancy,” said Marie-Amélie Le Fur, president of the French Paralympic Committee (CPSF), adding: “For the Alpine resorts, they would be a great incentive to further open their activities to all audiences and increase accessibility.”

Renaud Muselier, president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Region, stated that “we have the opportunity to demonstrate that we are capable of organizing sober, reasoned and exemplary Winter Games”; meanwhile, Laurent Wauquiez, president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region, stressed: “Our constant concern is, first of all, to plan Games that respect the environment. Our Region stands out for its innovative and often leading ecosystem in tackling all environmental problems. Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes already has a lot of infrastructure and we want to offer a unique experience to athletes, spectators and volunteers, raising Olympic values.”

The Winter Games 2030 in France: pros, cons and the main rivals

The main argument for the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regions to organize the next Winter Games is based on these IOC requirements for choosing future venues: existing infrastructure, low costs and sustainability.

The main cons that appear today are two: the proximity to the Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games in Paris (they will be next year) and that the Alps will also host the Winter Games in 2026, in this case in Italy (Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo).

After Sapporo dropped out of the bid and Salt Lake City’s distant chance due to its proximity to Los Angeles 2028, plus the setback to Vancouver not receiving support from the British Columbia government because of the high cost it would demand, the main candidates seem to be Sweden and Switzerland.

The IOC Executive Committee will meet on November 29 and 30 and December 1, and will announce the candidates who will move on to the next phase, called Directed Dialogue. The choice of venue will be announced before Paris 2024 and the announcement will be made in duplicate, as the country that will host the 2034 Winter Games will also be announced.