(ATR) The first Winter Olympics bid from the Southern Hemisphere could be on the way.
A pre-feasibility study shows that a Winter Olympics could come to New Zealand in 2026. The study was conducted by Bruce McGechan, managing director of M&P, a Queenstown, New Zealand based consultant company.
The study says Auckland and Queenstown could co-host an Olympic Games in 2026 and asks the New Zealand Olympic Committee and national government to conduct a feasibility study by the end of 2015.
The timing of the report coincides with IOC president Thomas Bach visiting New Zealand. Bach arrived in the country on Apr. 4 as part of an Oceania-leg to his recent travelsand discussed a possible Olympic bid from the country.
"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."
For a potential Olympic bid, Auckland would host the main Olympic village and park, while Queenstown would host the mountain events. Considering Olympic Agenda 2020, an outside country would host ski jump and sliding events.
The Olympics would only cost the government of New Zealand $595 million as the IOC would contribute $880 million. Costs for the Games include building five new facilities in Auckland, upgrades to mountain facilities in Queenstown, two athletes’ villages and two media centers.
The report said that costs for a Winter Olympics are "notorious," but using Olympic Agenda 2020 recommendations the Auckland-Queenstown bid could become "the antithesis of Sochi 2014."
In the five-year period after the Games, the report states that New Zealand could receive an economic boost of $4.9 billion and an increase in tourism by over two million visitors.
Transportation between Auckland, on New Zealand’s North Island, and Queenstown, on the South Island, remains a barrier.
"A critical issue is whether the IOC will allow an airlink rather than a train or road," the report said.
No dates for when the New Zealand Olympics would take place were given by the report. Traditionally, the Winter Olympics are held during winter in the Northern Hemisphere, as no Southern Hemisphere city has bid for the Games.
The Olympic Charter gives no mention of a date range for the Olympic Games, saying, "The dates of the Olympic Games are determined by the IOC Executive Board."
If the Games were staged during the Southern Hemisphere winter, the timing of the 2026 FIFA World Cup would have to be considered. When FIFA moved the 2022 World Cup to the winter months, the world soccer body made sure its decision did not conflict with the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Only three Olympics have been awarded to the Southern Hemisphere: the 1956 and 2000 Olympics in Melbourne and Sydney and the 2016 Games in Rio.
Written by Aaron Bauer
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