IOC Decision on 2026 Olympic Sliding Events Due End of January

The International Olympic Committee will reveal its plans for where the sliding events of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games will be held at the end of this month, the organization confirmed on Thursday.

The IOC has insisted that an existing ice sliding venue outside Italy must be picked to avoid extra spending on construction. The New York State Olympic Regional Developmental Authority has proposed hosting the sliding events in Lake Placid, New York, as a solution; along with Lake Placid, proposals have been submitted from Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

“Our position is unequivocal,” Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi said Thursday from Gangneung, South Korea, after an IOC Executive Board meeting. “We from the very beginning felt that this venue (in Italy) was extremely complex in terms of cost, legacy and timing. We have promoted the use of an existing track.”

Italian government and organizing officials of the Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Olympics have wanted to keep events at home by renovating one of two disused tracks in Cortina and Cesana, which were used for the Winter Games in 1956 and 2006, respectively.

Moving Olympic sports competitions to another country is extremely rare, with Stockholm hosting the equestrian competitions of the 1956 Games in Melbourne due to quarantine restrictions in Australia. The 2024 Games in Paris will have surfing events held in Tahiti.

Minor Issues Not Major Concern, Say Paris Organizers

Paris is on track to host this year’s Games as all the infrastructures will be ready in time for the extravaganza despite some minor hiccups.

The athletes village will be delivered on March 1 by Solideo, the public company in charge of infrasctructures, its president Nicolas Ferrand told a panel of French senators on Wednesday.

Ferrand said there are minor delays on three specific venues, including the Village where “some 500 beds that were expected for the Olympic village will only (be) delivered during the months of April”, a few weeks behind schedule.

Also running a few weeks behind schedule is renovation of the Grand Palais monument in central Paris that will host fencing and taekwondo.

“In total, there are three topics out of 70 that caused minor problems,” Ferrand said. “Overall, the works are totally on time and they are within the budget given to us and with the levels of ambition that were set.”

Michel Cadot, who heads a Games coordination committee and is head of the National Sports Agency, said the number of spectators for the July 26 Opening Ceremony on the River Seine was still under discussion. Organizers initially announced plans for 600,000 people to attend in person – most of them for free – but the latest estimate is for 500,000.

French President Emmanuel Macron said in his New Year’s address that the Opening Ceremony extravaganza could be moved if France is hit in the run-up by extremist attacks. Cadot said contingency plans entail an “adaptation of the concept on the Seine.”

Cadot also expressed confidence the Seine will be used for the open-water swimming and triathlon events as efforts continue to clean up the waterway after poor water quality forced the cancellation of three test events last July and August.

All has not been perfect, however. French police have threatened to disrupt airports during the Olympics if their demands for bonuses and decent working conditions are not met, reported Reuters on Thursday.

Mexico Changes Course

Mexico has left the race to host the 2036 Summer Games, Mexican Olympic Committee President Maria Jose Alcala told reporters on Tuesday.

Mexico launched its bid in March 2023, which coincided with the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Olympic Committee with the two Mexican representatives saying most of the infrastructure required to host the Games is in place. The country hosted the Summer Games in 1968.

South Korea, India, Egypt and Qatar have also expressed their intention to bid for the 2036 Games.

“We had a talk with the International Olympic Committee and we saw that the competition is very tough,” Alcala said. “We are turning around to see if we can have the bid for the Youth Olympic Games, which is where we would have a great chance.”

Alcala added Mexico could bid for the 2027 Pan American Games. The Colombian city of Barranquilla was recently stripped of the hosting rights after failing to meet its contractual obligations after it was the only city to make a formal proposal to Panam Sports when it was awarded the event in August 2021.

The Pan Am Games are traditionally held the year before the Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games. Alcala said the state of Nuevo Leon showed interest in hosting the event in Mexico, one year ahead of the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.