The winter Olympics could be ‘coming home’ (or at least to the home of the IOC, FIS and the location of the first recorded winter sports holiday) as several Swiss cantons have expressed an initial interested in hosting the Games. Valais – home to Verbier and Zermatt among many others – and Vaud – home to Villars and Diablerets among others – are reported to be putting a joint project together to bid for the 2026 Games. Valais and Vaud, located in south-western Switzerland, held a press conference on Thursday entitled ‘The Swiss Made Winter Games 2026’.
If the big moves ahead and is ultimately successful it could see the Olympics back in Western Europe for the first time in two decades, since the Turin Games of 2006, and following three successive games that have moved Eastwards from Sochi on Europe’s eastern borders to South Korea, next up in 2018 and Beijing, China due in 2022. Other regions, Bern and, separately, Graubünden (Home to Davos and the only Swiss resort to have hosted an Olympics previously, as well as host of next winter’s Skiing World Championships, St Moritz) are also reported to be interested in launching their own bids.
However to move forward with a big each canton must receive public support in a referendum and in the bidding process for the 2022 Games a bid by Graubünden to host the Games collapsed when the local population.
Switzerland then became one of several European nations to pull out of the process before the IOC could decide whether they would be hosts or not, leaving only Beijing and Almaty in Kazakhstan for the IOC to decide between. Oslo in Norway was the last and most high profile candidate to withdraw, partly citing excessive demands by the IOC for the decision leading to a bitter public row.
Switzerland has not hosted the Olympics since 1948, and only hosted it on one previous occasion, the second ever Games in 1928 (before downhill skiing was added to the events list), both times in St Moritz.
Official bids to host the 2026 Games must be submitted to the IOC by September 2017 at the latest.