Henri Serandour, President of the French National Olympic Committee, announced Wednesday that France will launch a bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Serandour said the bid city will be unveiled in March.
The cities of Grenoble, Annecy and Nice are among the expected contenders. City officials have until mid-October to declare their interest to bid.
Paris missed out in its bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, which is being hosted by London. Serandour said, “after the failure in July 2005 in getting the 2012 Games we had to rebound and stay in this dynamic by defining new goals. Olympic ambition has been very marked since then with great desire for candidacy for the Summer Games.
“We have long thought that a bid to host the Winter Olympics would be a good break from the Summer Games”, he said, adding that “to be a candidate in 2018 offers a good chance to get the Summer Olympics at a future date”.
