No Turning Back for Sion 2026

(ATR)The Western Switzerland bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympics calls for the creation of a 27th Swiss Canton – the Olympic Canton.

The bid, called "Sion 2026 – The Games in the Heart of Switzerland," has officially launched.

Representatives from the media, politics and sport gathered in the center of the Swiss capital to hear the bid’s project managers explain why they have put together the best plan to bring the Olympics back to Switzerland for the first time since 1948.

The Sion bid includes an alliance of the cantons of Valais, Vaud, Berne and Fribourg in what is being called the "innovative concept of the 27th Swiss Canton".

"It is a project for and from all of Switzerland," said Jean-Michel Cina, the Valais state councilor. "Switzerland must take this opportunity to put the Alps back on the world map of Winter sports and to open up new perspectives for the tourism sector."

Organizers say it requires "moderate interest" from the cantons and municipalities involved but is counting on support from the national government. This bid, unlike the competing one from Eastern Switzerland, is not facing a public referendum.

Among the strengths of the bid, according to organizers, are the transportation around the planned Olympic Ring and available accommodation capacities that are higher than required by the IOC.

The dossier includes ideas such as the organization of a large national race after the 50km cross-country ski competition and holding the Opening Ceremony in an open area in Sion so that as many people as possible can participate.

Didier Defago, the 2010 Olympic downhill champion, told those gathered on Friday "I want to bring to the young people of this country the dream that I have never been able to achieve, to participate in the Olympic Games in my own country."

Sion 2026 is up against another regional candidate in "Graubünden und Partner 2026" (Eastern Switzerland).

Swiss Olympic is now studying the two bids in more depth, with the Swiss Olympic executive council scheduled to vote on March 7 for one of the projects, should they decide a bid is feasible. This decision will then have to be ratified by the Sport Parliament at an extraordinary meeting scheduled for April 11.

But a decision between the two may be taken out of Swiss Olympic’s hands should the citizens of Graubünden vote against their region’s bid in a referendum on Feb. 12.

A Swiss bid for 2026 could end up having some stiff competition.

The government of Sapporo, Japan, which hosted the 1972 Games. presented the Japanese Olympic Committee with a plan in November for an Olympics and Paralympics bid.

The Kyodo News Agency reports it is up to the JOC to decide whether to put forward a bid. The odds seem long for a third straight Asian city hosting the Winter Games, following PyeongChang in 2018 and Beijing in 2022.

Two other former Winter Games hosts – Innsbruck, Austria and Calgary, Canada - are each the subject of a feasibility study to determine if a bid is worth it.

The Swedish NOC’s chief executive tells Around the Rings that a Stockholm Olympic bid is better placed to succeed than the city's failed quest for the 2022 Games.

A feasibility study on a Winter Games bid is being conducted by city authorities and due for release at the end of this month or early February. The Swedish capital dropped out of the race for the 2022 Winter Games in January 2014 after the city’s ruling Moderate party failed to back bid plans.

Formal 2026 bidding applications are not due with the IOC until after the 2024 host city is chosen in September. The final IOC decision will be made in 2019.

Written by Gerard Farek

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