(ATR) The President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is not discouraged by the latest events in the bidding race for the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2026.
"As we do understand the disappointment of those involved in the Calgary bid, we believe we have two very strong candidates in cities and countries passionate about winter sports and used to hosting major events," Andrew Parsons tells Around the Rings.
The Brazilian Paralympic leader is in Tokyo this week, invited to the General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC).
After Calgary voters turned a thumbs down to a bid in a referendum earlier this month, Stockholm and Milan/Cortina are the only remaining candidates in the 2026 bid race.
Both cities will make the first of only two international presentations at the ANOC General Assembly on Thursday. Milan’s Mayor Giuseppe Sala will attend the Italian presentation in Tokyo this week. Stockholm’s newly elected Mayor Anna König Jerlmyr will reportedly not attend. Her new coalition government has come out against a bid though she and other city politicians did meet with Stockholm 2026 bid leaders last week to discuss the project.
The other presentation is at the meeting of the Association of International Olympic Winter Federations at the SportAccord Convention in Australia next April.
The IOC is scheduled to vote on a 2026 host June 24 at the session in Lausanne.
IOC has set a January 11 deadline for the submission of bid documents including government guarantees, but IOC representatives have already hinted that an extension could be granted to allow more time to provide the necessary paperwork.
Of seven applicants in the 2026 race, four have dropped out and a Turkish bid was dismissed for being too costly. With missing guarantees for the remaining two projects, the IOC risks facing a June host city election with one, or perhaps no candidates at all.
"The IPC will continue the cooperation with both candidatures to make sure we have the best host for the 2026 Paralympic Winter Games," Parsons said.
The withdrawal of Calgary after the latest in a series of failed referendums earlier this month has at least one IOC member calling for a change in how a potential bid is decided.
"I think referendums are easy to handle today by pressure groups that are previously organized for other normally political issues, so it is very difficult for a Yes to go ahead," the IOC member and International Triathlon Union president, Marisol Casado, commented to ATR.
"The referendum, in my opinion, is not the right tool to decide the organization of the Games. It should be a more specialized collective that reaches and understands without manipulation the pros and cons of the organization," said the Spanish leader.
Written by Miguel Hernandez
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.
