(ATR) A potential 2026 Winter Olympics bid by Calgary has the support of about two-thirds of the area’s residents, according to a new poll from the city's exploratory committee.
The Calgary Bid Exploration Committee (CBEC) says almost 2,000 residents from Calgary, Cochrane, Canmore and Banff were surveyed via telephone and online from March 6-19 by the CBEC’s research partner Stone-Olafson.
About 64 percent of those surveyed either supported or strongly supported a bid for the 2026 Winter Games compared to 17 percent either opposing or strongly opposing the effort. The remaining 19 percent have not made up their mind.
Only 53 percent of respondents say they are confident "the bid process would be cost conscious and budgets would be managed well" though 71 percent did agree that win or lose, "bids like this are good ways to promote Calgary and attract business activity."
According to the survey, more than seven in 10 would like to see investment in the city’s existing venues and believe the legacy of hosting the 1988 Winter Games goes beyond sport.
The CBEC says the effort was "a scientifically valid quantitative survey" though the researchers themselves admit because the results include both telephone and online responses, they should be interpreted "with caution".
The exploratory committee will present its final report and recommendation to the Calgary City Council on July 24. The Council will then have the final say in the bid decision.
Thus far, Switzerland is the only country to officially enter the 2026 race with a bid centered in Sion. Besides Calgary, former Winter Olympic host cities Innsbruck, Lillehammer and Sapporo are also contemplating a bid along with Erzurum, Turkey.
The IOC says the 2026 bid cycle is expected to be officially opened after the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang next February. A host for the 2026 Games will be decided at the 2019 IOC Session.
Written by Gerard Farek
For general comments or questions,click here.
25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
