Sapporo bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics

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Bids for the
2030 (2030) Winter Olympics and Paralympics
Overview
XXVI Olympic Winter Games
XV Paralympic Winter Games
Details
CitySapporo, Japan
NOCJapanese Olympic Committee (JOC)
Previous Games hosted
1972 Winter Olympics

The Sapporo bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics is a proposed bid to bring the 2030 Winter Olympics to the city of Sapporo, Japan.[1] After the 1940 Winter Olympics were abandoned due to war, Sapporo previously hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics, the first time that the Winter Olympics were held in Asia. They also hosted the 1986 Asian Winter Games, 1990 Asian Winter Games, 2017 Asian Winter Games and most recently the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2007 and 2015 World Women's Curling Championship.

Details[edit]

Sapporo 2030 was the first official bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics.[2]

Sapporo was initially considered to bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics, but was withdrawn on 17 September 2018.

Due to the cost overrun from the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics and facing a very likely situation of withdrawing the bid, a revised budget that was released which would lower the cost of the games to between 280 billion and 300 billion yen.[3]

A recent report which was released before the start of the Beijing games showed that, due to climate change, by the end of the century, Sapporo might be the only city among the 21 cities to have hosted the Winter Olympics to be able to provide fair and safe conditions to host the Winter Olympics.[4]

In March 2022, Sapporo's government released a draft plan for the games.[5]

In December 2022, Sapporo officials said that that organizers would "discontinue for some time" while investigating the scandal relating to Tokyo 2020, but the bid would not be canceled.[6]

On 10 April 2023 Japanese Olympic Committee President Yasuhiro Yamashita has revealed that talks are set to get underway over possibly delaying Sapporo's bid from 2030 to 2034.[7]

Impact of Tokyo 2020 Bribery scandal[edit]

A number of bribery and corruption allegations tied to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games have surfaced since mid-2022, which have been viewed as a potential setback for Japan in its bid to host the 2030 Games.[8] Seiko Hashimoto, an Olympic bronze medalist, politician and former head of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, said in December 2022 that the scandal seemed "very severe," adding that it was important to sort the issues out so that Sapporo can proceed with its 2030 Olympic bid efforts.[9] Later that month, Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki admitted that it was "difficult to keep fostering momentum" for the 2030 Olympic bid due to the corruption allegations.[10] Sapporo mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto announced on 20 December 2022 that his city would halt the aggressive promotion of its 2030 Olympic bid in order to "dispel the public's unease" about the scandals and reconsider their promotion tactics.[11]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Tokyo Olympics could boost chances of Sapporo landing 2030 Winter Games". CBC Sports. 14 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Sapporo becomes first official 2030 Olympic bid". OlympicTalk — NBC Sports. 30 January 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Sapporo expected to revise planned 2030 Winter Olympic bid". Inside the games. 13 November 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Climate change will limit choice for Winter Games hosts, says study". Reuters. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  5. ^ "Government of Sapporo publishes draft plan as part of 2030 Olympics bid".
  6. ^ "Sapporo suspends promotion of 2030 Winter Olympics bid to review, and survey public nationwide".
  7. ^ "Sapporo to consider delaying bid for Winter Olympics to 2034". insidethegames.biz. 10 April 2023.
  8. ^ Kageyama, Yuri (27 September 2022). "Tokyo Olympics bribery arrests widens to third Japan sponsor". Associated Press. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Olympic scandals may cloud Sapporo 2030 bid: Tokyo Games official". Kyodo News. 2 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Olympics: Hokkaido Gov. says Tokyo Games scandals hurt Sapporo bid". Kyodo News. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Sapporo mayor to halt 2030 Olympic bid promotion, reconsider tactics". Kyodo News. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.