A Calgary 2026 Games bid awaits a champion, or two

CALGARY — 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 just nine months away, a champion for a ’26 bid has yet to appear.

City council hasn’t decided if Calgary will bid, but the city recently put out a call via its website to people interested in becoming the chief executive and chair of a bid corporation. Candidates were asked to be ready to take on those roles by May 30.

The CEO, the primary strategist, and chair, the head of the bid corporation’s board of directors, would be the faces of a ’26 bid.

They will be asking Calgarians, the country and the 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 games revenues covering almost half. A bid alone is $30 million with the city, province and federal governments willing to split the cost. Getting governments, corporations, the public and eventually the IOC to buy in on Calgary 2026 hinges on the charisma, creativity and trustworthiness of the CEO and chair.

The number of Canadians with experience leading successful bids is small. John Furlong and the late Jack Poole quarterbacked the bid for the 2010 Games in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C. Bob Niven was president of the 1988 bid and, along with Frank King and Bill Warren, brought those games to Calgary.