Stockholm 2026 Bid on Solid Footing

(ATR) Stockholm’s bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympics appears to be on very solid footing, just 10 months after it looked like there would be no bid at all.

"It’s been an incredible time since April because things have really fallen into place in a very good way," Stockholm 2026 CEO Richard Brisius tells Around the Ringsat Sweden Arena in PyeongChang.

Brisius credits the turnaround to the people and politicians of Sweden, who he says have started to trust that the IOC’s Agenda 2020 reforms and the less expensive bidding process can create a bid that is affordable for Stockholm and Sweden.

The Swedish Olympic Committee (SOK) repeatedly told ATRover the past months that a bid was not dead despite the April 26 announcement by the Social Democrats, who are the largest political party in a coalition that runs the Stockholm city government, that the Swedish capital was bowing out.

Months of talks between the SOK and the various stakeholders, along with the IOC bidding reforms, has resurrected the bid.

Sustainability is one of the drivers in the support of the bid, according to Brisius.

"It fits Sweden because we are a country (that) really strives for sustainability in everything we do. So when we see that this is the core message of the Olympic Movement now as well that fits us very well. So we want to use the Olympics and Paralympics to become even better on sustainability and to also help the movement drive that message forward."

There is still work to be done but Brisius feels the pace of the new bidding process works well for both the IOC and the Stockholm bid.

"The way Swedes work is that when we decide to do it, we want to do it very well and we do it quite jointly and we are a bit of a consensus seeker. So we could run forward like crazy and just push but for us it is important to get all the key stakeholders with us. And we have big respect for the politicians and they are smart and they understand now how good this is and then we have the corporate world with us and sports world with us but we want to walk as much as in the same pace, everyone together. So this dialogue stage suits us perfectly."

One hurdle that a Stockholm bid is likely to avoid is a referendum to determine if the bid moves forward.

"It’s not very common at all in Sweden to have referendums. And on the rare occasions where there have been referendums, such as should we drive on the right or left side of the road or should we have nuclear power, often the outcome of the referendum hasn’t been followed anyway. So we don’t have a great history of it."

Stockholm has a group of eight people in PyeongChang taking part in the IOC’s Observer Program along with teams from the competing bids of Sion, Switzerland, Calgary, Canada and Sapporo, Japan.

The program is allowing both the Stockholm bid and the IOC "the opportunity to see us as a bid city, how we can do it in the best way, and also if we can become a host city. It’s a great learning opportunity for all of us," says Brisius.

Eighty percent of the athletes will live and compete within a 10 kilometer radius in Stockholm. Only three of the proposed venues will be outside the city but one of them - the sliding center for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton – won’t be in Sweden.

Sweden was willing to build one but the IOC and the federations don’t want any more sliding centers built for Winter Olympics. Faced with getting a negative mark on their evaluation if they built one, Brisius says the Stockholm bid is now looking at options in Norway, Germany and Latvia.

"We have been to Latvia. They have a wonderful track in Sigulda," he tells ATR. "And what’s beautiful with Latvia is they’re so keen and it’s a small, rather young nation as it is now anyway so I think for them it would mean a lot to have a part of the Olympics there as well."

Should Stockholm get the bid, they will build a speed skating arena and Nordic skiing track area. Brisius says both are needed as a legacy for the country and both would be used for World Cup events following the 2026 Games.

A housing project that’s already planned would be used for the Olympic Village while the Main Press Center would be housed in an existing exhibition hall. Discussions are ongoing as to where the International Broadcasting Center would be located.

The operational budget, which was announced in January 2017 at $1.7 billion, has since been lowered thanks to combining competition venues and not building a sliding track.

"So we have a balanced budget," Brisius says. "We don’t have a budget that requires a lot of tax money into it for the operations side. The biggest contribution is from the IOC, that’s what benefits a lot and people realize that and politicians realize that the financial case here is really good actually."

Written and reported by Gerard Farekin PyeongChang

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