The number of regions in which winter sports can take place reliably decreases from year to year. Climate change is therefore also a concern for the International Olympic Committee. Because that means fewer and fewer places that could host the Winter Games.
Concern about the winter also puts the IOC’s Olympic bosses under pressure. “Alarming” are the data on the impact of climate change on winter sports, said IOC President Thomas Bach. Its International Olympic Committee is threatened with running out of possible hosts for the premium product Winter Games, so the Ring Circle has activated an emergency plan. The allocation of the next but one Winter Games in 2030 has been postponed by one year, for the future a rotation model among a few venues is being discussed.
“We have preliminary findings from leading scientists on the effects of climate change, showing a potential reduction in the number of climate-proof hosts going forward,” said Olympia Director Christophe Dubi after the IOC’s leadership’s recent deliberations. The members of the executive had previously debated sustainable winter sports for hours.
The decision: The commission for the selection of future games hosts should take more time to discuss the consequences of global warming for the allocation process of the Winter Olympics with associations and scientists. Among other things, it is being discussed that applicants will have to prove temperatures below freezing over a period of ten years in the classic Olympic month of February.
A group of researchers had recently determined that most of the previous organizers of winter games at the end of the century could no longer offer reliably fair and safe conditions for the Olympics. “Even a low-emission future can no longer prevent many former venues from being considered for the Winter Games in the future,” said tourism researcher Robert Steiger from the University of Innsbruck.
IOC boss Bach sees the winter sports realm shrinking sharply in just a few years. By 2050, “between 50 and 60 percent of the former winter sports areas in Europe that were considered snow-sure and suitable for the Olympic Games would no longer exist,” said the 68-year-old. With this knowledge, these regions would no longer invest in snow and ice sports, but rather rely on other sources of income such as hikers and mountain bikers.
In addition, winters will become shorter as a result of climate change. “That then raises the question of how much time is left for a World Cup, a World Cup, the Olympic or Paralympic Games,” said Bach. Factors like these could also have an impact on the format and program of the Winter Games in the future.
Only Sapporo and Salt Lake City were left as serious candidates for the 2030 Olympics. Vancouver seems out of the running after the province of British Columbia refused a billion-dollar grant. Meanwhile, Sapporo is struggling with the aftermath of the controversial Corona Games in Tokyo and a corruption scandal surrounding the recent summer games in Japan. Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto therefore announced that efforts to organize the games would be paused and internal processes reviewed. Salt Lake City doesn’t want to be the host until 2034, since a US metropolis is already hosting the summer edition in Los Angeles in 2028.
The IOC is still relaxed with a view to 2030. “We can award the games later and still implement everything in time,” said Olympia Director Dubi. In order to secure the billions of dollars in business with the Winter Olympics, the IOC is again considering a double award, as was the case for the 2024 and 2028 summer games. Sapporo could have a chance for 2030 and Salt Lake City, as desired, for 2034. In this way, the IOC could too Buying time “to establish a well-founded rotation system,” said Bach. Winter Games could then alternately only take place in a few locations with existing competition venues and guaranteed frosty weather.
The only question is whether climate change and the fear of a billion dollar grave will leave enough people interested in the wintry mega-spectacle in the long term. However, at least one new potential player is probably not the IOC’s favourite. Saudi Arabia wants to create a gigantic mountain resort in the middle of the desert by 2026. In 2029, the Asian Winter Games are to be held there. The IOC claimed that it had never been asked about this project.
