PARIS: The Swedish Olympic Committee (SOK) intends to move ahead with a bid to host the Winter Olympics for the first time after a four-month feasibility study showed there was interest in staging the Games in Stockholm. Sweden, a winter sports powerhouse, has unsuccessfully bid eight times for the Winter Games, including the 2026 edition which was awarded to Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo. Stockholm staged the Summer Olympics in 1912. “Our preliminary study shows that Sweden has the opportunity, know-how and will to arrange the Winter Games in 2030,” SOK president Hans von Uthmann said in a statement. The International Olympic Committee was initially due to announce a host for 2030 at its annual meeting in Mumbai this year but has postponed its decision to the eve of the 2024 Paris Games, citing concerns about climate change. The Japanese city of Sapporo, which hosted the 1972 Winter Games, was considered the favourite but has put its bid on hold in the wake of a widening corruption scandal over the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Salt Lake City in the United States, which hosted the Winter Olympics in 2002, remains a possible contender but has expressed a preference for the 2034 edition due to the 2028 Summer Games being held in Los Angeles. The IOC has said it might award the 2030 and 2034 host cities simultaneously to create stability the Winter Games, and that hosting rights may rotate “between a certain pool of cities and regions”, as it faces a shrinking pool of potential bidders.
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