Calgary 2026 bid remains leaderless

C A L G A R Y • The success of a Calgary bid for the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games will depend on its leader.

With the deadline to submit bids to the International Olympic Committee nine months away, a champion fora2026bidhasyettoappear.

Councilhasn’tdecidedif Calgary will bid or not, but the city recently put out a call via its website to people interested in becoming the chief executive officer and chair of a bid corporation.

Candidates were asked to be ready to take on those roles by May 30. The CEO and chair will be the faces of a 2026 bid.

They will be asking Calgarians,thecountryandthe world to emotionally invest in their vision of another Winter Olympics in the city after the 1988 Games.

They will also be asked by nervous taxpayers how much it will all cost. An initial estimate by the Calgary bid exploration committee was $4.6 billion with revenues covering almost half.

The bid alone will cost $30 million with the city, province and federal governments willing to split the total.

The city is chockablock with former athletes who went on to successful professional careers and remain vocal supporters of Olympic sport — Mark Tewksbury, Ken Read and Catriona Le May Doan to name a few — as well as industrygiantsinoilandgas, finance, communications and aviation.