On Tuesday at least four bids to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2030 or 2034 gave high-level online presentations to boost their projects ahead of a possible shortlisting by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) next Wednesday.
But who were on the other side of the virtual table when mayors, governors, sport and business leaders pitched their plans to stage the Games?
The IOC’s Future Host Commission for the Olympic Winter Games (FHC) is meeting at headquarters is Lausanne, Switzerland as “part of the annual cluster of meetings of all the IOC’s Commissions, from 15 to 28 November,” the IOC said in a statement. After Tuesday’s meeting Commission members are expected to debrief and prepare a presentation and possible recommendations for the Executive Board set to meet starting Wednesday (November 29).
They could, and likely will, propose that one or more of the projects currently involved in ongoing dialogue be elevated to targeted dialogue to prepare for a possible election at the next IOC Session ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics in July. Ultimately, it will be up to the Executive Board members to determine how they’ll move forward next week.
This wasn’t the first time the FHC met with the potential bids, they have already been involved in detailed ongoing dialogue for months and years.
The FHC was formed in 2019 after the IOC made major reforms to the Olympic bid process – eliminating most of the formalities and expense and instead allowing any interested parties the opportunity to engage the IOC at any time for informal discussions on a future Games. When a mutual opportunity is found for a specific edition, targeted dialogue can begin.
The intent was to save time, money and any of the negative ramifications of launching a full blown campaign in a losing cause. Now, only qualified bids chosen for targeted dialogue will need to make further efforts towards a successful election. The advanced applicant dialogue also reduces the risk that the full IOC membership will cast votes for a popular yet underqualified project, as has happened in the past.
Who can serve on the FHC and make recommendations?
According to the IOC “Commission Members are not IOC Executive Board members or nationals of a country of an Interested Party and acknowledge and respect all information and provisions set out in the Future Host Commissions – Terms of Reference.”
“The current Commission is gender balanced and includes representation from the International Federations, National Olympic Committees, IOC Athletes’ Commission and the International Paralympic Committee.”
Romanian Octavian Morariu was the first Chair of the Commission in 2019 but once France entered continuous dialogue with the French Alps 2030 project in 2023, he was forced to step down since he is also a French national and posed a conflict of interest.
Instead, Austrian Karl Stoss was named Chair of the eight-member FHC. The IOC member is also president of the Austrian Olympic Committee and serves on many other Commissions including as Chair of the Olympic Program Commission.
Also on the FHC is IOC member Samira Asghari from Afghanistan who is an Executive Board member of the NOC of Afghanistan. Asghari was a member of her national basketball team and serves the IOC’s Athletes’ Entourage. She is on coordination commissions for Gangwon 2024 and Los Angeles 2028.
Olympic medalist in shooting Danka Barteková from Slovakia is Vice-President of the Slovak Olympic and Sports Committee and a member of her national Olympic committee. As an IOC member she has served on many other commissions including for Digital Engagement and Marketing Communications.
IOC member Neven Ilic from Chile is the president of the Pan American Sports Association (PASO) and served on evaluation commissions for the 2014 and 2022 Youth Olympic Games. He is also a member of the Los Angeles 2028 coordination commission.
Norwegian Olympic champion cross-country skier Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen is an IOC member elected in 2021who serves on the Athletes’ Commission and the coordination commission for Milan-Cortina 2026.
Chinese speed skating Olympic champion Hong Zhang is an IOC member, Executive Board member of the Chinese Olympic Committee and member of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Foundation Boards. She is chair of the Gangwon 2024 coordination commission and was a member of the 2026 Winter Games evaluation commission.
Colin Grahamslaw from U.K. is the Secretary General of the World Curling Federation and he is temporarily replacing Latvian Einars Fogelis of the International Luge Federation (FIL) who has stepped down while Sweden remains interested in hosting the Games. Sweden lacks a sufficient sliding venue and has proposed the use of the track in Sigulda, Fogelis’ hometown, which could have posed a conflict of interest.
Rita Van Driel is a Dutch executive board member of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) who served on the evaluation commission for the 2010 and 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games bids. She was also on the Beijing 2022 coordination commission. The Olympics and Paralympics have been staged together by a single host since 1988.
The FHC will also be discussing possible bids for the Youth Winter Olympics this week, including at least two interested parties according to an IOC disclosure in June. Italy’s Lombardy and Trentino regions have announced interest in hosting jointly in 2028. Gangwon in South Korea is set to host the next edition in January 2024.
The team connects regularly with interested bidders, building relationships and exploring the opportunities together before any commitments are made. Salt Lake City has been in ongoing dialogue with the FHC since 2019 and bid leadership said discussions have occurred almost monthly in recent years as the bid has evolved from a 2030 campaign to 2034.
France, Sweden and Switzerland are vying to host in 2030 with all three launching their projects only this year.
