(ATR) The IOC appears to have launched the invitation phase for the 2026 Winter Olympics earlier than the 2024 bid race, a move signaled by meetings with Quebec City leaders.
The IOC tells Around the Rings that Quebec City mayor Régis Labeaume held talks about a possible 2026 bid with IOC president Thomas Bach in Lausanne on Monday.
Labeaume had a working lunch with the president before the mayor and his delegation met with Jacqueline Barrett, the IOC’s associate director for Olympic bids and Olympics, and her team. The IOC described it as a technical meeting.
The IOC has yet to confirm the parameters of the 2026 Winter Olympics bidding process.
Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi has previously told ATR that the IOC was willing to "fine-tune and tweak" the bidding model, bringing lessons from the 2024 race to the 2026 winter contest.
Such talks with a prospective bidder for the 2026 Games so far in advance of the application phase – which opens soon after the 2024 summer host is chosen in September 2017 – suggests a change of strategy for Winter Olympic bidding.
This strategy is likely aimed at avoiding a repeat of the botched 2022 bidding process, which saw four European cities drop out of the running due to political and financial issues. The withdrawals left unfancied Almaty and Beijing to vie for the Games. The Chinese capital triumphed in the host city election last summer.
The IOC later said the invitation phase for the 2026 race has not officially started yet, despite the technical meetings with Quebec.
Commenting on the Quebec City mayor’s Olympic bid discussions in Lausanne, an IOC spokesman told ATR: "The IOC is always happy to meet with cities and enter into a dialogue about the possibilities that Olympic Agenda 2020 offers."
The Canadian Olympic Committee is currently exploring the potential of a bid for the 2026 or 2028 Olympics.
Quebec City is in contact with officials in Lake Placid, Calgary and Vancouver to explore ideas for co-hosting the Games to reduce venue and infrastructure costs and deliver a more attractive bid proposition to spike the interest of Quebec’s population. The city also needs to partner with a co-host which can provide a big enough mountain to host the men’s and women’s downhill ski races.
The IOC’s reforms, designed to reduce the cost and complexity of the bidding process, encourage flexibility and allow for multiple events to be held outside the host city or host country - but only in "exceptional circumstances" for reasons of sustainability.
Switzerland and Sweden are also mulling bids for the 2026 Games. The IOC will choose a host city in 2019.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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