France Looks Set to Host 2030 Winter Olympics
30th April 2024
Last modified on May 3rd, 2024
It is firm favourite to be awarded the Winter Games at the Summer Games in Paris in July. The IOC has just been on a 5-day visit to the Alps and the French Riviera. UPDATED
A delegation from the IOC’s Commission for the Future Olympic Winter Games visited last week and seemed impressed.
France has already been announced as the ‘preferred host’ for the Games.
The delegation inspected the proposed sites and assessed the level of popular support for the bid.
It looked at the environmental impact, plus the political & financial guarantees.
The Games would be held at Nice on the Mediterranean coast, and the Alps to the north.
The price tag has been put at €2billion.
The Opening Ceremony is expected to be in the Alps with the Closing Ceremony in Nice.
The organisers say they can host the Games using much existing infrastructure.
Some are a legacy of the Albertville 1992 Winter Olympics while others are currently used for World Cups and World Championships.
Meribel, France. Image © PlanetSKI
“We showed that we wanted to limit the expenditure, and we have stayed in line with this objective, I am very proud of this,” said the French Olympic Committee president, David Lappartient.
In Nice a new arena is set to be built and a convention center will be constructed to host the main media center.
Temporary ice facilities will be in the existing Allianz Riviera Stadium.
The France bid committee claims 62% of people across France support hosting the 2030 Winter Games.
In the Alps the figure is put at 81% and around Nice it is 73%.
Opposition groups claim climate chnage means there won’t be enough snow to support the Games in 2030.
They also argue that the money should be spent on more important social projects.
There would be four venues:
- Haute-Savoie – Cross-country skiing, biathlon.
- Savoie – Alpine skiing and bobsleigh/luge.
- Briançon – Snowboarding and freestyle skiing.
- Nice – Ice sports.
Much of the women’s alpine skiing would take place in Meribel, with the men competing in neighbouring Courchevel.
The slalom would take place in Val d’Isère.
Bobsleigh, luge and skeleton would happen at La Plagne.
Cross country skiing in La Clusaz and biathlon in Le Grand Bornand.
The ski jumping and Nordic combined would take place in Courchevel.
Briançonnais would include ski cross, snowboard cross, snowboard and freestyle skiing.
Figure skating, ice hockey, short-track speed skating and curling would take place in Nice.
It seems the IOC delegation was impressed and will recommend the France bid to the IOC Executive Board in mid-June.
The official award will be made on 23rd and 24th July in Paris, before the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
In July in Paris there will also be an announcement on the hosts for the 2034 Winter Games with Salt Lake City in Utah USA the only bidder.
If a France bid is successful it means the county will hold back-to-back Winter and Summer Olympics.
Plus Europe would host the Winter Olympics for two consecutive Games.
The next Winter Olympics will take place in Italy 2026 with Milan & Cortina the hosts.
France has already hosted three Winter Olympics:
- Chamonix in 1924 (the first edition)
- Grenoble in 1968
- Albertville in 1992
