International Olympic Committee proposes France and the United States as potential Olympic host countries.
The French Alps and Salt Lake City are inching closer to becoming the chosen venues for the 2030 and 2034 Winter Olympics. The International Olympic Committee's executive board recommended these two contenders for the games on Wednesday, in line with the proposal of the selection commission for future Olympic Games. The final decision will be made during the IOC session on July 24, just before the Summer Olympics in Paris.
Both France and the US have been designated as preferred candidates for the Winter Olympics in 2030 and 2034 since November. Since then, discussions have been focused solely on these two potential hosts. The selection committee has commended the plans put forth by the applicants and the strong support they received from politics, business, and the general public. Additionally, both candidates have experience hosting previous Olympic Games. The French Alps have previously hosted the games in Chamonix (1924), Grenoble (1968), and Albertville (1992), while Salt Lake City hosted them in 2002.
France intends to hold the 2030 games in the regions of Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur and Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes, with several ice events taking place in Nice. After this year's Summer Olympics, the country will be hosting another Olympic event in just six years. Meanwhile, in the US, Salt Lake City will take over as host city six years after the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles 2028.
The upcoming 2026 Winter Games will be held in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The IOC is believed to have a preference for Switzerland's application in 2038. However, due to climate change, the Winter Games are a challenging issue for the IOC in the long term. According to researchers, only ten countries will be suitable to host the games from 2040 onward, with enough snow and ice for the events.
