D-Day for Calgary 2026 Olympic bid as referendum looms

MONTREAL: Calgary’s bid to stage the 2026 Winter Olympics faces a make-or-break referendum on Tuesday, with a sceptical public heads to the polls for a vote likely to determine if the bid can proceed any further.

Thirty years after hosting the 1988 winter sports spectacular, when the likes of British skijumper Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards and Jamaica’s bobsled team entered Olympic lore, Calgary is hoping to stage the event once more.

But bid officials are facing an uphill battle attempting to convince Calgary’s 1.24 million residents that the city should foot a Can$390 million (US$295 million) chunk of the bill for hosting the event.

A survey of 243 people conducted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation between October 24 and November 3 found 55% percent against with only 35% in favour. Ten percent were undecided.

“I am not fan of hosting the Olympics for the simple reason that it’s a risky investment,” said Jeanne Milne, of the “No Calgary Olympics” group campaigning against the game.

“We are on the hook for any cost overrun. There are all these claims about all the economic outlooks, but they never really come through. After the Olympics you don’t see a bump in reputation, a bump in economics.”

That scepticism was shared by the city’s Calgary Sun newspaper, which voiced its opposition to the bid in an editorial on November 9, saying nostalgia for 1988 should not be a factor in the decision.

“We remember 1988 fondly but understand that was a special moment in time that will never be recaptured,” the paper argued.

“Trying to recreate magical memories is a mug’s game.”

If Calgary’s public votes against the Olympics, it will be in line with a clear trend which has dogged potential Olympic bids all over the world in recent years.

In the race for the 2026 Olympics alone, the Swiss city of Sion and an Austrian bid based at Graz have already withdrawn citing lack of either public or political support.

The International Olympic Committee is facing a scarcity of applications for the Winter Games, with many scared off by the US $50billion for the 2014 Sochi Games.