The 2030 Olympic Games ever closer to France. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will begin a tour of the Alps this week to the sites considered to host the Winter Games in 2030.
From the mountains of Savoie and Haute-Savoie to Nice, on the banks of the Mediterranean, via the resorts of the Hautes-Alpes, a team of experts will examine in five days the trails and infrastructures proposed by the French candidacy, now alone in vying for this final phase of “targeted dialogue”.
This involves “studying in detail” the project, from the map of sites to logistical aspects, including political and financial guarantees, popular support or environmental impact, as Jacqueline Barrett explained this week , director in charge of future hosts of the Olympic Games within the Olympic body.
No visit to Val d'Isère
This visit is one of the expected stages for the French candidacy since its selection by the IOC last November as “preferred host” for the 2030 Winter Games, while the American city of Salt Lake City was the only one selected for the Olympic Games 2034.
If the two files are deemed convincing, the “future host commission for the Winter Olympics” will recommend them to the IOC executive in mid-June, before an official award on July 23 and 24 in Paris by the members of the body. Olympic Games gathered for their 142nd session, before the opening of the 2024 Games.
The French Alps' candidacy, from its launch, sparked an outcry from environmental defenders, but suspense over its future remains quite limited. Even before the visit, Jacqueline Barrett and Christophe Dubi, the executive director of the Olympic Games within the IOC, welcomed a “magnificent project”, praising the beauty of the landscapes, the local experience in terms of sports organization and the “politico” framework. -administrative” left by the preparations for the 2024 Olympics.
The future host's commission will visit the four Olympic and Paralympic centers from north to south, starting with Haute-Savoie (cross-country skiing in La Clusaz and biathlon in Grand-Bornand), the important Savoyard site including alpine skiing and luge. bobsleigh (La Plagne, Courchevel and Bozel), snowboarding and freestyle skiing in Montgenèvre and Serre-Chevalier in the Hautes-Alpes and finally ice sports in Nice.
However, no visit is planned to Val d'Isère, despite the request of its mayor Patrick Martin, to host the slalom events, echoing the former ski champion Jean-Claude Killy, outraged to see " an entire part of the history of ski racing. This exclusion from the system was motivated by a policy of “grouping sites”.
“The first eco-responsible Games in history”
The future speed skating site remains to be determined - which could use infrastructure abroad or a demountable hall like at the 2026 Milan Olympics. Also to be refined are the travel plans, which are delicate in a very vast mountainous area stretching from Grand-Bornand to Nice, via Courchevel.
The commission will be welcomed by Laurent Wauquiez and Renaud Muselier, respective presidents of the Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions, initiators of the candidacy.
The government fully supports the project, as Minister Delegate for Local Authorities Dominique Faure said this week in Grenoble, estimating that the previous Games in Grenoble (1968) and Albertville (1992) had been "each time a moments of joy, harmony, unity and success.” “In six years, we will be able to hold the first completely eco-responsible Games in history,” she assured, disputing any risk of an “environmental fiasco”.