Bids for the 2026 Winter Olympics
A total of seven bids were initially submitted for the 2026 Winter Olympics. One bid was not invited to and four of the bids were subsequently withdrawn after entering the candidature stage, leaving Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy and Stockholm–Åre, Sweden as the only two remaining candidate bids. Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo was elected as the host city at the 134th IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 June 2019.
Bidding process
The IOC Executive Board met in Lausanne to discuss the 2026 bidding process on 9 June 2017; and a new approach was approved at the Extraordinary IOC Session on 11–12 July 2017. The IOC would take a more proactive role in assisting and supporting cities considering a candidature for the 2026 Olympics, and would customise its approach to the needs of the cities in order for them to develop the best value proposition. These measures were designed to lead to a simplified process for the cities, with reduced costs. The Invitation Phase had been extended to one year, starting 13 September 2017, and the Candidature Phase has been shortened to one year, starting from 2018 to 2019. These measures were enacted due to a lack of interest in bidding for the 2026 Games well into 2017.Dialogue stage
- Launch of dialogue stage
- Joint briefing through video conference
- Signing of candidature cooperation agreement
- Customised on-site expert support visits
- On-site interactive working session 1: Presentation and discussion of initial Games concept
- Observer programme at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea
- Deadline for cities to enter the candidature process by joining dialogue stage
- On-site interactive working session 2: Presentation of consolidated Games concept after consultation with IOC technical experts
- Official debrief between PyeongChang Organising Committee and Beijing Organising Committee
- Provision of host city contract
- IOC Working Group Report submitted to IOC Executive Board
- IOC Executive Board to recommend to the IOC Session cities to invite to the candidature stage
- IOC Session to invite a number of interested cities to take part in the candidature stage
Candidature stage
- Deadline for the submission of the Candidature File but without core guarantees by the candidate cities
- IOC expert pre-visits
- IOC Evaluation Commission analysis including a visit to each candidate city and requests for submission of any additional information or guarantees
- * Stockholm–Åre 2026
- * Milan–Cortina 2026
- Deadline for the submission of the complete Guarantee File
- Final Q&A session with the Evaluation Commission via individual video conference
- Publication of the Evaluation Commission Report on www.olympic.org
- Candidate cities' right of response following publication of the Evaluation Commission Report
- Candidate City Briefing 2026 for IOC Members and International Olympic Winter Sports Federations
- Candidate cities present to IOC Session in Lausanne, followed by election of the Host City 2026
- Individual debriefing with each NOC / candidate city
IOC's 2026 Evaluation Commission
In October 2018, the IOC appointed the following members and stakeholder representatives to the Evaluation Commission that will assess the candidate cities for the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games.- Octavian Morariu: Chair
- Kristin Kloster Aasen: IOC member
- Zhang Hong: IOC member
- Roman Kumpost: Stakeholder representative
- Heike Größwang: Stakeholder representative
- Marianna Davis: Stakeholder representative
- Lee Hee-beom: Stakeholder representative
- José Luis Marco: Stakeholder representative
Final selection process
The IOC voted to select the host city of the 2026 Winter Olympics on 24 June 2019 at the 134th IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland.Criteria
A firm criterion for the Winter Olympics is the availability of alpine ski slopes of certain sizes, which narrows down potential locations significantly, and often necessitates locations in less populated areas. The men's downhill requires at least altitude difference along a course of around in length.For the 2026 Winter Olympics the IOC allowed a longer distance between events, so that alpine skiing can be held in a mountain area, and sports such as ice hockey and figure skating can be held in a large city more than away where such arenas are already available or have greater usage after the games.
A certain spectator capacity is required, which is most often 10,000 but varies according to the particular sport. Furthermore, certain VIP areas are required at every venue.
Candidate cities
On 2 July 2018, the IOC announced that it would contribute US$925 million to the host city in order to help reduce costs.Cities in dialogue stage
The following cities participated in the dialogue stage. Four of these joined the dialogue stage at its launch on 29 September 2017, and took part in the PyeongChang 2018 Observer Programme. The other cities joined in time for the deadline for entering the candidature stage.Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo, ItalyStockholm–Åre, Sweden*
Cities in candidature stage
Three of the four cities that still remained in the dialogue stage in October 2018 were invited by the IOC to join the candidature stage; these were Calgary, Stockholm, and the joint Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo bid. Erzurum was the only city remaining in the dialogue stage that was not invited to advance. Calgary withdrew its bid on 19 November 2018, and Stockholm created a joint bid with Åre on 11 January 2019 to become Stockholm–Åre 2026.The candidate cities were required to fulfill their governmental requirements by 11 January 2019.
Withdrawn from dialogue stage
The following cities were seen as potential bids and took part in the dialogue stage, but have withdrawn for various reasons.Previously interested in bidding
The following cities initially explored the possibility of bidding but decided not to proceed to the dialogue stage.Americas
Quebec City, Quebec, CanadaMultiple cities, United StatesAsia
Almaty, KazakhstanEurope
Innsbruck, AustriaDresden, GermanyAosta, Italy- Norway:Barcelona, SpainGraubünden, Switzerland