Calgary Games bid in reconnaissance mode

It’s premature to say whether Calgary should bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics, but the decision will be guided, to some extent, by the findings of a city delegation making the rounds in Pyeongchang as part of an observer program.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi is among eight officials sent by the city, in addition to delegates from the town of Canmore and the provincial and federal governments. Each level of government is paying to send its own representatives, at a total price of $135,000.

Given that the cost of hosting the Games is pegged at $4.6 billion, the expense of travelling to South Korea is modest and apparently already is paying off.

Nenshi says he was particularly interested in the International Olympic Committee’s pledge to reform the way Olympic hosting has been conducted in the past.

“That was one of the big reasons for my trip here, to really look eyeball to eyeball with the folks involved in the Olympic movement to try to understand that commitment to reform a bit better,” Nenshi said this week.

“And I am much more comfortable now, having been here, that they are, in fact, entirely sincere and really, really want the Olympics to change, for the Olympics to be different, to be more cost-effective, to be more efficient, and to not be as much of a burden on the host cities and host countries.”

Such a recognition by the IOC is encouraging, because ballooning expenses have been a fixture of too many past winter and summer Games.

Calgary’s facilities largely have received the approval of the IOC, but it’s been suggested a bid could partner with other cities such as Edmonton, and even Whistler, B.C., for the alpine events.

Every possibility should be considered, but spreading the Games around to other communities would increase the cost of security and threaten to dilute what should be Calgary and Canmore’s Olympics, if it’s determined a bid is viable.

“It really has been about learning more about the new norm and what it’s going to take to host a Winter Games in the future, because the 2026 process will be the first one under this new process,” says Nenshi.

We can only hope Nenshi and the other delegates continue to gather important information and insight during their stay in South Korea.

There are important decisions to be made in the months ahead, decisions that aren’t likely to be universally popular. At a minimum, conclusions should be based on facts, and not on wishful thinking.