Good news for Calgary’s potential 2026 bid as IOC gives more time

Calgary has extra time to mull a possible bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics because the International Olympic Committee has shifted its timelines.

The IOC announced Tuesday in Lausanne, Switzerland, that the “invitation phase” starting in September for 2026 bids will be expanded to a full year to give “cities more time and more help to develop their proposals.”

With the winning bid to be announced September, 2019, the formal bid process has been shortened to one year from two which reduces costs, the IOC said in a statement on its website.

“In a nutshell, the candidature process which worked so well in the past has become too expensive and too onerous for this new political reality,” IOC president Thomas Bach said.

“We have been asking too much, too soon of the cities.”

The Calgary Bid Exploration Committee told city council last month the price tag to host the 2026 Winter Games will be about $4.6 billion.

CBEC said revenue the Games generate would cover almost half the cost, but another $2.4 billion would be needed.

When the 17-member CBEC was formed, they worked under an initial deadline of September, 2017, as the Canadian Olympic Committee expected to have to put forward the name of a candidate city to the IOC then.

CBEC and city administration are scheduled to make recommendations to council July 24 on a possible bid.

Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi has said it will be difficult for council to make a decision without having a 2026 host city contract from the IOC laying out principles and operational requirements.

Sion, Switzerland, and Innsbruck, Austria, are among Calgary’s potential rivals for a 2026 bid.