Sweden to the Rescue?

About a month ago, I did a post about the IOC's problem with the 2030 Winter Olympics.  Specifically, how nobody wants to host them.  The problem has gotten so bad that they've delayed the selection of a host possibly until next year while they look for potential hosts who may be interested.

There's been some talk about having a few "permanent" hosts who rotate the Winter Olympics between them.  What that would look like is anybody's guess, but it would probably include at least one site on each of the three continents that can host the Winter Olympics (likely PyeongChang in Asia, Vancouver and Salt Lake City in North America and a European city or two).  While there are positives and negatives to that idea (I, personally, don't like it), that rotation, if it ever comes to pass, won't be in place until 2038 at the earliest.  So, the lack of candidates for 2030 is still a problem.

However, that 2030 problem may not be a problem much longer.  Because there's suddenly a front-runner.  Sweden.  The Swedish Olympic Committee is currently conducting a feasibility study and will present its report in April.  But, it's widely assumed that if the Swedes do decide to put forth a bid, it'll be a winning one.

A 2030 bid from Sweden wouldn't look much different than its bid for 2026, when the IOC chose the Italian bid instead.  Events would be held at existing venues across the country, with the indoor events centered in and around Stockholm.  And, since there are no sliding tracks in Sweden, the bobsled, luge and skeleton competitions would be held across the Baltic Sea in Sigulda, Latvia, a unique element that's in line with the IOC's preference of not building costly, potentially unnecessary new venues.

The 2026 bid was actually very well-received by the IOC.  There wasn't anything "wrong" with Sweden's bid.  In fact, they were very impressed by it, especially the idea of having the sliding events in Latvia.  They just preferred the one from Italy.  Part of that was because Milano-Cortina had more government support than Stockholm did.  With 2030 a virtual guarantee should they move forward, though, the Swedish Olympic Committee is hopeful that means they'll get the necessary support and guarantees this time.

It's not at all unheard of for a city that was unsuccessful in its Olympic bid to eventually land a Games.  Salt Lake City lost to Nagano for 1998 and hosted in 2002.  PyeongChang lost twice in a row to Vancouver and Sochi before its successful bid for 2018.  So, especially since they already had a bid that was technically strong, seeing Stockholm host in 2030 after losing its bid for 2026 isn't that crazy an idea at all.

Here's the crazy thing, too.  Sweden has never hosted the Winter Olympics!  One of the most successful winter sports nations.  One where you immediately think of hockey and cross country skiing and biathlon.  A nation of 10.5 million people, the fifth-largest population in Europe.  A nation that is eighth all-time in Winter Olympic medals.  Yet they've never hosted the Winter Games.  The Winter Olympics have been around for nearly a century and never been in Sweden.  It really is hard to believe if you think about it.

Sweden has hosted the Olympics once before.  The Summer Games of 1912, which are best known for Jim Thorpe's excellence in winning both the decathlon and pentathlon, as well as his humorous, "Thanks King" response to the King of Sweden's congratulations.  The 1912 Olympic Stadium is still standing, and was actually the proposed venue for the Big Air snowboarding and freestyle skiing competitions in the 2026 bid, which just sounds cool!

Stockholm would also join Beijing as the second city to host both the Summer and Winter Games.  In a unique piece of Olympic history, though, it would be the third Olympics in the city.  In 1956, Australian quarantine laws prevented foreign horses from entering the country, so the equestrian events at the Melbourne Games were moved to Stockholm (and held in July, months before the rest of the Olympics in the Australian summer).

Although, like at Beijing 2.0, the outdoor events would be held well outside the host city.  Are, which is 400 miles from Stockholm near the Norwegian border, is the only place in Sweden with the capability of hosting world-class alpine skiing.  Falun, about 150 miles away, is the location of Sweden's only ski jump (as well as the location of Sweden's national cross country skiing center).  And Sigulda, of course, is in another country.

In the past, an Olympics that's so spread out would be viewed as a negative.  In recent Winter Olympics, though, it's become the norm.  Beijing was spread out.  Milano-Cortina will be even more spread out.  The two official host cities are 250 miles apart, and the Games will be held throughout Northern Italy.  They might even use the indoor speed skating oval from the 2006 Olympics in Torino!  It's important to note, too, that all of the venues in Sweden are world class and regularly host stops on the World Cup circuit in pretty much every winter sport.

All of this was also true four years ago, when Stockholm's bid lost out in the final head-to-head Olympic bid race for the foreseeable future.  The 2030 Games will be the first Winter Olympics awarded under the new method where the IOC meets with interested cities an essentially hand-picks the host.  Which is why Sweden went from not even a candidate for the 2030 Olympics at the start of 2023 to the odds-on favorite.  That all changed when they met with IOC leaders in Switzerland in January, though, and they were basically told that the 2030 Games are theirs if they want them.

Should Stockholm step up, it wouldn't just solve the IOC's problem regarding a host for 2030.  They've even talked about doing a 2030-2034 dual-award next year.  Salt Lake City is the last resort backup plan for 2030, but has publicly declared its preference for 2034.  So, they could lock up Winter Olympic hosts for a decade by doing Stockholm 2030 and Salt Lake 2034 at once, then have an opportunity to reset before worrying about 2038.

So, Sapporo's virtually guaranteed-to-win 2030 bid falling apart, forcing the IOC to delay the host city election could end up being a blessing in disguise.  Especially if Sweden comes through with a last-minute bid.  Because a Winter Olympics in Sweden sounds incredible!  And is long overdue.