(Bombay) Only ten countries will still be able to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games by 2040, compared to around fifteen today, forcing the IOC to think about the future of its competition, its president said on Friday. President Thomas Bach.
Between increasing dependence on snow cannons and a scarcity of applications, on an already restricted geographical base, the Winter Games have long appeared to be one of the major sporting events most threatened by global warming.
To the point that the IOC had postponed the election of the organizing city of the 2030 Olympic Games to the end of 2022, initially planned for the 141st session which opens on Sunday in Bombay, to entrust its future host commission with a broader reflection on the “sustainability of winter sports”.
According to “the first results of this study” presented on Friday, “15 national Olympic committees (NOCs) spread over three continents currently have at least 80% of the required facilities” for the Winter Games, Thomas Bach explained to the press. .
According to the leader, ten of these fifteen NOCs “have either hosted the Games recently or are interested in hosting them in the future”. Among them, Sweden, France and Switzerland, which are vying for the 2030 edition, and the American city of Salt Lake City, vying for 2034.
But global warming requires, “by 2040”, two of them “will no longer present the necessary climatic reliability” for the Olympics, a figure increased to five taking into account “the Paralympic Games organized in March” on the same site , warned Thomas Bach.
The head of the Olympism therefore placed this subject on the menu of the session on Sunday, to discuss several possibilities: “a double allocation” of the Olympic Games-2030 and 2034 to give himself time, followed by a possible “rotation system” between host cities and a reflection on snow and ice events.
In the immediate future, confirmed Thomas Bach, the future host commission must propose “by the end of October/November” to open a “targeted dialogue” with one or more of the candidates for 2030 or even 2034.
A choice which will then be validated by the executive commission at its next meeting from November 28 to December 1.
Once this step has been reached, the Olympic organization aims for an official award by its session next year: either in Paris, just before the 2024 Olympics, or in another country if France is still in the running for the 2030 edition. .