Seven countries including Canada confirm interest in staging the Olympic Winter Games 2026

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today announced that seven National Olympic Committees  have expressed official interest in hosting the Olympic Winter Games 2026 – with others already considering 2030 and beyond, including the United States Olympic Committee. This is the first group benefitting entirely from the Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms, which offer a cost-efficient, transparent and flexible delivery of the Games from candidature through to legacy.

The  cities are:

2026:

Austrian Olympic Committee (Graz)

Canadian Olympic Committee (Calgary)

Italian Olympic Committee (Cortina d’Ampezzo/Milan/Turin)

Japanese Olympic Committee (Sapporo)

Swedish Olympic Committee (Stockholm)

Swiss Olympic Association (Sion)

Turkish Olympic Committee (Erzurum)

“I warmly welcome the countries and  cities’ interest in hosting the Olympic Winter Games. The IOC has turned the page with regard to Olympic candidatures. Our goal is not just to have a record number of candidates, but ultimately it is to select the best city to stage the best Olympic Winter Games for the best athletes of the world,” said IOC President Thomas Bach.

These interested cities will continue with the new Dialogue Stage in which the IOC provides greater support, technical advice, communications assistance and materials to develop the best possible candidature. The new approach enables cities to create the most feasible, legacy-enhancing Olympic Games possible. During the Dialogue Stage, the IOC will work together with the cities and NOCs to narrow the field and ultimately produce the best possible host city.

The New Norm will also afford increased flexibility in designing Games that meet the long-term development goals of the city, region and country. The seven-year preparation journey has been significantly simplified, and hosts will receive more support from the IOC and the wider Olympic Movement. Legacy is a priority from the very start of the planning through to final delivery and well beyond. The implementation of the IOC’s reforms will ensure that these elements are incorporated across the board and monitored from the earliest stages of Games planning and organisation. 

“It’s no surprise that so many incredible cities have come forward to compete for the Olympic Winter Games in 2026 and 2030,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. “The reforms laid out by Olympic Agenda 2020 created a clean, clear candidature process for Los Angeles, and many cities from around the world will benefit from these reforms as they bid in the coming months.”

The host city for the Olympic Winter Games 2026 will be selected by the IOC Session in September 2019.

It was 30 years ago today, Calgary’s Olympic Games opened.

IOC officials visited Calgary in January, when they toured facilities from the 1988 Olympics and met with the city’s Olympic project team.

Hosting the games will cost an estimated $4.6 billion.