(ATR) Stockholm 2026 tells Around the Rings the Olympic bid is not dead, despite the reported withdrawal of support from the city council.
It comes after Stockholm City Council’s coalition of parties appears to have made a decision not to pursue the bid following a meeting on Friday.
Stockholm 2026 CEO Richard Brisius tells ATR that the city council has not rejected the Olympic bid plan.
"It is clear what we have to do is to sit down with the parties in the new coalition. They haven't had the full insights on the bid," he said of the new-look administration running the Swedish capital, which has switched from Social Democrats to Conservatives.
"We are proceeding to go and meet with them because it is a new group. They are open to arranging the Olympics and Paralympics. They want to look further around the economics and sustainability," Brisius added.
He also emphasized that the Stockholm mayor Karin Wanngård,a member of the Social Democrats, was supportive of the bid and continues to champion Stockholm's Olympic campaign.
The IOC Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi was asked about the reports out of Stockholm at a news conference at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.
"It is premature to comment because we haven’t had any official communication coming from the candidate city," Dubi told reporters. "Happy to answer any question later in the day once we have had official contact and know exactly what has happened."
Earlier this week, the IOC named Stockholm, Calgary and a joint Italian bid from Milan and Cortina as the candidates for the final stage of the shortened bidding contest, which concludes next June.
Stockholm’s exit would be another major blow to the IOC’s bidding reforms.
A two-horse race for the 2026 Winter Olympics has echoes of the 2022 contest when unfancied Beijing defeated Almaty, the only other candidate, to secure the Games.
Written by Mark Bisson, with additional reporting from Aaron Bauer in Buenos Aires
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