Reporting from Lausanne, Switzerland – Both 2026 Olympic Winter Games bids claimed Monday that they passed through the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Technical Presentation and question and answer period unscathed.
The Stockholm Åre 2026 bid led by Richard Brisius and Milan-Cortina headed by Giovanni Malago both reported similar questions that were asked by IOC members. Those included an outline of financial guarantees, details about accommodations for athletes’ family members and travel logistics between venue clusters.
Malago said his bid’s guarantees were complete, and claimed the IOC had no issues with items that were identified as challenges in the Evaluation report last month. Those included the costly renovation of the Cortina sliding track and the splitting of Alpine events between Bormio and Cortina.
Bid officials noted that the cost of the siding venue reconstruction had risen to 50 million euros.
#Sweden Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel encourage @Stockholm2026 #StockholmAre2026 team heading into final Olympic Bid presentation in Lausanne #134IOCSession pic.twitter.com/t456CXpWUy
— Robert Livingstone (@enotsgnivil) June 24, 2019
Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte arrived at the SwissTech Conference center, the election venue, Monday afternoon to join the delegation.
The Swedish bid committee members were upbeat and enthusiastic, buoyed with recent poll results that identified 63 percent support in the nation – up from 55 percent earlier in the year.
“By 2026, it will be 99 percent,” Brisius said.
Stockholm Mayor Anna König Jerlmyr said “If we win today, we will walk out showing what Swedes’ passion is all about and that we will be totally committed. Swedes are all in now,”
The Stockholm city government will not sign the host contract, instead it will be underwritten by Åre.
The Swedish delegation was led by Crown Princess Victoria and Prime Minister Stefan Lofven.
On Monday afternoon, the IOC will take in the bids’ final presentations before voting at 4:00 pm local time. Eighty-two members are eligible to vote, and a simple majority will be required to win.
The winner will be announced at 6:00 pm by IOC President Thomas Bach.
More to come at GamesBids.com.
