(ATR) New Zealand says the time is not right to consider a bid to host the Winter Olympics.
The New Zealand Olympic Committee has elected not to go forward a feasibility study on a possible 2026 Olympic bid. If the bid were pursued, it would have been the first Winter Olympics bid from the Southern Hemisphere.
Consultant Bruce McGechan, who led a pre-feasibility study in May, told New Zealand news outlet Scoop that the project has been scuttled.
The hope was for Auckland to host the main Olympic park and village with Queenstown hosting mountain events. Per Olympic Agenda 2020, a second country would have stepped in to handle ski jump and sliding events.
One barrier to a possible Games would have been transportation between Auckland and Queensland, which are located on separate islands.
"A critical issue is whether the IOC will allow an airlink rather than a train or road," a previous report stated.
The issue of when the Games would take place was not addressed, as the Southern Hemisphere winter would raise a possible conflict with the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
IOC president Thomas Bach spoke of the need for bids from countries like New Zealand during a visit to Auckland in April.
"You cannot restrict the right to host the Olympics to just 20 countries," Bach said.
"The Olympic Games are universal, and we should open doors and windows. If New Zealand is ready to look into it, we are ready."
The Southern Hemisphere has twice hosted the Summer Olympics - Melbourne 1956 and Sydney 2000 - will do so for a third time at next year’s Rio Games.
Written by Nick Devlin
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
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