Countries soured on bidding for future Winter Olympics?

[Mathman]

https://www.wlox.com/2018/12/18/salt-lake-city-bids-nd-olympics-changed-climate/

According to this article, high cost overruns, local opposition and IOC corruption seem to have driven down the number of cities and countries willing to host future Games.

 

[NaVi]

They should just rotate the winter Olympics between three locations for a while(next 50 years or so)... one in North America, one in Europe, and one in Asia.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

They are seriously giving IOC members free plastic surgery as part of the bidding process? What a time to be alive

 

[StephenGfan]

I would love to have the 2030 in sapporo! salt lake is still fairly recent.

 

[satine]

They are seriously giving IOC members free plastic surgery as part of the bidding process? What a time to be alive

That was 20 years ago. Today, it should be switched around- IOC offering plastic surgery to whatever city is willing to host

 

[musicfan80]

They should just rotate the winter Olympics between three locations for a while(next 50 years or so)... one in North America, one in Europe, and one in Asia.

IMHO, they REALLY REALLY should do this for the Summer Olympics. I think it’s been a financial nightmare for almost every city that’s hosted it since the 1970s - except for Los Angeles (1984), Atlanta (1996), and London (2012). And I think that’s because those cities didn’t do a lot of build up and (for example) just repuposed a lot of university facilities like stadiums and dorms.

 

[Sam L]

There is an elephant in the room for Winter Olympics. It’s called climate change. Have we thought about this? More relevant for outdoor snow sports but imagine if we still had to rely on outdoor frozen lakes?

 

[Noxchild]

What do the IOC even DO for the Olympics, since the host cities seem literally responsible for everything? Is there actually work involved with being a part of that organization, or is the corruption and greed just it?

 

[DanseMacabre]

What do the IOC even DO for the Olympics, since the host cities seem literally responsible for everything? Is there actually work involved with being a part of that organization, or is the corruption and greed just it?

They roll around in their giant pile of bribes. The IOC has resisted contributing to costs, which is the primary reason cities don't want to host anymore (who wants to spend billions of dollars on specialty stadiums/apparatuses that will only be used once and will likely just be left to rot?), so they really are useless.

At this rate, the 2030 Olympics are going to be held in my backyard.

 

[moonkat]

They roll around in their giant pile of bribes. The IOC has resisted contributing to costs, which is the primary reason cities don't want to host anymore (who wants to spend billions of dollars on specialty stadiums/apparatuses that will only be used once and will likely just be left to rot?), so they really are useless.

At this rate, the 2030 Olympics are going to be held in my backyard.

Will the bribe money every dry out?

 

[DSQ]

I think when it comes to building the venues the IOC is purely advisory.

 

[mishulyia]

Wasn’t Rio de Janeiro a good example that you don’t have to spend an insanely excessive amount of money and still have a good time? I’m looking at you, Sochi & Mr. Putin..

 

[Tolstoj]

Afaik Italy is still pushing their candidacy for 2026 with Milan and Cortina.

 

[Jammers]

I would love to have the 2030 in sapporo! salt lake is still fairly recent.

Sal Lake is over 16 years ago and Asian countries are in the midst of hosting 3 straight Olympics which is probably unprecedented for one region of the world hosting 3 Olympics in a row. Asia should have to wait at least a decade before hosting again. Even Europe will have hosted 3 times before NA finally gets the Olympics again in 2028 in LA unless Canada wins the games for 2026.

 

[Manitou]

They should just rotate the winter Olympics between three locations for a while(next 50 years or so)... one in North America, one in Europe, and one in Asia.

Exactly. Choose permanent reliable snow locations: two in NA, two in Europe and two in Asia and cycle through them. It's cheaper, as the facilities are permanent.
NA: Salt Lake City and Calgary
Europe: Lillehammer and Cortina
Asia: wherever. Mount Everest?

Another thing - move the timing from end of February to mid January. The spring is already coming in February - see Sochi and Vancouver, where the weather was great in January but suddenly deteriorated for the Olympics.
We cannot defeat the warming, but we can work around it.

Regarding the corruption? Well, some things cannot be fixed, especially from within, but they can be reset by force. FIFA, IOC, anything with big money. Wishful thinking...

 

[DSQ]

Exactly. Choose permanent reliable snow locations: two in NA, two in Europe and two in Asia and cycle through them. It's cheaper, as the facilities are permanent.
NA: Salt Lake City and Calgary
Europe: Lillehammer and Cortina
Asia: wherever. Mount Everest?

Mount Everest? As in the Himalayas? So Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan? Out of all of them only China has hosted a major IOC event. India has hosted the Commonwealth Games but that’s summer sports only.

I’d say Hokkaido is the best bet as it has the best ski resorts in Asia but after that I’m not sure. India and Pakistan do have great mountains but the resorts aren’t that organised yet. Then again the same could be said about China and they are using this Olympics as a reason to develop the mountains near Beijing despite their lack of snow.

I head Kazakhstan has great mountains.

 

[DanseMacabre]

Wasn’t Rio de Janeiro a good example that you don’t have to spend an insanely excessive amount of money and still have a good time? I’m looking at you, Sochi & Mr. Putin..

Rio was also rife with corruption and a fine example of the venues rotting after use. And the conditions weren't great. Remember the insanely polluted water? And the improperly chlorinated pools? From what I remember, a lot of money was spent, but it went to lining the pockets of individuals instead of to the actual Games. The Olympic chief was arrested in 2017 for the stuff that went down.

 

[mau]

Rio wasn't as expensive as Sochi or Beijing but left a lot of problems behind. The city is broken now (as well the whole state), which is really sad because Rio is our national symbol and I had a really great time during the Olympics.

 

[DanseMacabre]

Rio wasn't as expensive as Sochi or Beijing but left a lot of problems behind. The city is broken now (as well the whole state), which is really sad because Rio is our national symbol and I had a really great time during the Olympics.

That's the sad thing. Even sadder is that what happened in Rio has happened elsewhere. Athens pretty much went bankrupt after hosting the Games in 2004 (it wasn't the sole reason for the financial crisis in Greece but it certainly didn't help). Very few cities benefit from hosting so the cost/benefit situation just isn't worth it. I think Sarajevo is one of the few that actually thrived economically after the Games but hosting now is a whole lot more expensive than it was in the 80s.

 

[Baron Vladimir]

That's the sad thing. Even sadder is that what happened in Rio has happened elsewhere. Athens pretty much went bankrupt after hosting the Games in 2004 (it wasn't the sole reason for the financial crisis in Greece but it certainly didn't help). Very few cities benefit from hosting so the cost/benefit situation just isn't worth it. I think Sarajevo is one of the few that actually thrived economically after the Games but hosting now is a whole lot more expensive than it was in the 80s.

A lot more sports and a lot more of contestants these days. I think some of the Nordic countries could organize a Winter Olympic in Europe more easily. Maybe even a joint bid. Joint bid is popular these days in many sports competitions.