The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regions wish to submit a joint bid to host the Winter Olympics in 2030, with the ambition of taking environmental issues into account.
Never three without four? After having hosted the Winter Olympics three times, the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region is once again a candidate to organize the competition scheduled for 2030.
To host the event, the Region is considering a joint application with Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. “This approach results from the conviction that together and united, a collective Olympic ambition can be carried in the French Alps. is explained in a press release published on Tuesday. “Our conviction is that (with) a duel of two French candidates, nothing would have been good“, explained to AFP the president of the AURA Region Laurent Wauquiez.
The Winter Olympics are in our DNA.
Laurent Wauquiez, President of the AURA Region
On social networks, the latter added that he wanted “an application from the Alps, from Mont-Blanc to the Vercors“. “We have the most beautiful mountain in the world. It will unite the Region, the country, it is a source of pride. We are not going to make an appearance, but to bring the Games home!” did he declare.
With this joint candidacy, the two regions are defending a more ecological project, with a better “consideration of issues related to the preservation of biodiversity and the acceleration of global warming“.
With this objective of sobriety, the reuse of existing infrastructures, some of which come from the Olympic Games in Albertville in 1992, is already envisaged. “Our objective is to succeed in embodying this turning point in the spirit of Olympism. We want to be able to hold the first sustainable Winter Olympics. Anchored in the territories, which turn the page on gigantism“, explained Laurent Wauquiez.
“We can offer a new carbon-neutral Winter Olympics model as early as 2030“, assured for his part the president of the PACA region, Renaud Muselier, quoted in the press release.
The President of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF), David Lappartient, welcomed “the opportunity to continue the momentum of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games“. The two regional presidents are taking part this Wednesday in a lunch at the Élysée devoted to the Games, in the presence of Emmanuel Macron, the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa-Castera, David Lappartient and the President of the CPSF (Paralympic Committee and French sportsman) Marie-Amélie Le Fur.
The project has received the support of many champions such as Martin Fourcade, Alexis Pinturault or Gabriella Papadakis. “It would be an extraordinary opportunity to make our country vibrate again in unison through these two beautiful regions and to inspire our mountain youth. commented the Savoyard Marie Bochet, eight-time Paralympic champion in alpine skiing.
France, thanks to these mountainous regions, is one of the main players in winter sports in the world. It is therefore with great enthusiasm that I join the bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics.
Alexis Pinturault, triple world champion in alpine skiing, triple Olympic medalist
Other cities have expressed their interest in organizing these Olympics. Unhappy candidate against Milan for the 2026 Winter Olympics, Sweden entered the second phase of the candidacy process in June and is the favorite. This flagship nation of Nordic skiing has never organized the Winter Olympics.
Salt Lake City, a candidate known for several years and already host in 2002, is also in the running. But because of the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, the Mormon capital now prefers 2034, while remaining available for 2030.
The Japanese city of Sapporo, a time favorite, put its candidacy on hold at the end of 2022, after a corruption scandal at the recent Tokyo Summer Olympics. Other applications have been withdrawn, such as that of Vancouver or a project bringing together Barcelona and Zaragoza.
The awarding of the 2030 Olympics, which could be a “dual designation“with the host city of the 2034 Olympics, will take place at the latest during the IOC session preceding the opening of the Summer Games in Paris, confirmed the organization in mid-June.
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