Today was the deadline for candidate regions to submit their project descriptions for the organisation of the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Switzerland. Two files were received: those of "Graubünden und Partner 2026" (Eastern Switzerland) and "Sion 2026. The Games in The Heart of Switzerland" (Western Switzerland).
The objective set by Swiss Olympic at the beginning of the national selection process was to establish whether there was an Olympic Games project in Switzerland that met two main criteria. Firstly, to have a real meaning for Switzerland at the sporting, societal, economic, tourist and environmental levels. Secondly, to have at the same time a realistic chance to win through a competitive, international bid.
The process set up by Swiss Olympic in March 2016 was therefore aimed at establishing a clear framework to help those regions with an interest in organising the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Switzerland develop projects that could meet these criteria. Five projects registered to participate in the process. In the course of the work, the different ambitions were refined: one project withdrew in July, and two others ("Switzerland 2026", "2026. Games for our future") first merged and then joined the project "Sion 2026. The Games in The Heart of Switzerland", supported by the cantons of Valais, Vaud, Fribourg and Bern. Today, two strong projects have therefore filed their bid with Swiss Olympic.
Jörg Schild, President of Swiss Olympic: "We are very pleased to see that our work with the candidate regions has borne fruit. We wanted a collaborative process, during which ideas would come together, for the sake of a common goal: to offer Switzerland the great project it needs. Today we have two extremely strong proposals, and we look forward to continuing to work together to further refine them, with the objective of nominating a strong, ambitious and realistic project, which will benefit the whole of Switzerland and the Olympic Movement."
The work now continues with a first study of the projects, which will lead to a new exchange at a one-day working meeting with the 2026 Taskforce that will take place between the end of January and the beginning of February 2017. Following this meeting, an evaluation of the projects will be finalised and submitted by the Taskforce to the Executive Council of Swiss Olympic which will meet on 7th March 2017 to proceed with the final appointment of a project.
This decision will still have to be ratified by the Sport Parliament at an extraordinary meeting scheduled for 11th April 2017. You will find a detailed timetable in the PDF file below.
For more information, please contact:
Alexander Wäfler
Head of Media and Information Swiss Olympic
Tel: +41 76 436 38 40
Email: alexander.waefler@swissolympic.ch
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