Like a bolt from the blue, a Swedish Winter Olympics has once again become relevant. Sweden applied – but was rejected – to host the Olympics in 2026. It is now clear that Sweden is investigating the possibility of making another attempt until 2030.
The last time Sweden organized an Olympics was 1912. That time it was a summer Olympics. Now it is a winter Olympics that can have Sweden as the host country.
The application concerns both the Winter Olympics and the Paralympics. It is primarily SOK (Swedish Olympic Committee) that will produce a preliminary study about Stockholm and Sweden’s possibilities of organizing the Olympics.
“Already have all the arenas required”
On February 8, Sweden’s Olympic Committee announced to the media that they had received a request to organize the 2030 Olympics. The request comes from the IOC – and asks Sweden to provide information on how a Swedish Olympics might look like.
Previously, countries and cities submitted applications to the IOC. To let the committee then select the application they think is the best. This is now a thing of the past. Instead, it is the IOC that will send preliminary questions to the countries they consider relevant.
This is the stage Sweden is in right now. They have received a request – and will now work on a feasibility study. The preliminary study will lay the foundation for the decision that will then be made by the IOC.
From the Swedish committee, the tone is very positive. They recently came from a loss regarding the application for the 2026 Olympics. There, Stockholm/Åre lost against the alternative in Milan-Cortina. The loss must have stung for those who worked hard to bring Sweden’s first Winter Olympics here. Now plasters are coming on the wounds – namely that Sweden can once again become one of the few options that the IOC chooses between.
“We already have approximately all the arenas required to host the biggest winter games,” says IOC chairman Anders Larsson to SVT.
The decision that Sweden can get another chance comes on the same day that competitions in Biathlon World Cup 2023 are to start. Which is good timing when large parts of Sweden have Winter Sports fever.