The French file for the 2030 Olympics, ahead of both Switzerland and Sweden, has taken a major step forward by moving from “permanent dialogue” At “targeted dialogue“with the IOC, which makes it its own”prospective host” of the competition, while Paris is already hosting the 2024 Summer Olympics in eight months. The French Alps, which launched their candidacy last summer at the same time as Switzerland, while Sweden had been in the running since February, must now go through several months of detailed assessment of their application, from the site map to the planned legacy, environmental impact, financing and political support.
The project, which ensures that it is based on 95% of existing sites, extends from Nice to Grand-Bornand, nearly 500 km apart, with an alpine ski center on the sites of Courchevel-Méribel and Val d’Isère, cross-country skiing in La Clusaz, and an Olympic village based in Nice, as well as skating events. If the IOC executive considers the French guarantees sufficient, it will recommend its election as host of the 2030 Olympics during a session next year – which should be that of Paris in July, just before the 2024 Olympics, announced Karl Stoss Wednesday. This could require amending the Olympic Charter since it does not currently allow an edition of the Games to be awarded to the country hosting an IOC session.
David Lappartient (president of the CNOSF), French Alps file (2030 Olympic Games) in hand | 07/11/2023
Credit: Getty Images
A return to square one unlikely
Theoretically, if the French file proves disappointing, the Olympic body can also send France back to “permanent dialogue“, that is to say starting the procedure from scratch, a hypothesis which is nevertheless unlikely less than seven years before the competition. This new procedure, which turns its back on the traditional votes followed throughout the world to decide between the candidates, has only been used once, to award the 2032 Olympics to the Australian city of Brisbane in 2021.