iceman530

Frightening and disheartening to think this could be France's last chance dance hosting a winter olympics because of climate change........and theyre not the only ones.

Its a done deal for 2034 basically. The main chute appears to have deployed at the last moment. They can keep the reserve stowed away.

Exactly. France is very much the safest bet if we are evaluating things as they currently stand.

Yup, if there is going to be an Asian/Islamic country that gets this, its going to be Istanbul. And even then, a Poland, Hungary, or South Korea scuttles that.

I mean, if they pull this off, there is a bit of magic to it. Certainly a bit more inertia behind this bid now than the Swedish one. At least it currently feels that way at this juncture. Curious where the anchor ice events will be. Marseille? Nice? Geneva? Annecy? All over the dang place?

France 2030: Abracadabra

So, all things equal........if Poland and Seoul are the final two, who gets it? Seoul?

I like Poland a lot too myself, and I could certainly get behind a Seoul bid. Would IOC view Poland as a dangerous bet because of Russia geopolitics? Hopefully not, I think they could swing it

A bit at a loss........the Lira is now at a stunning 27 to the dollar. Thats profoundly shocking for that currency given how much value it has lost over the past decade. But.......in a country like Turkey, with leadership like Turkey, theyll still do it.

So with France and Switzerland joining Sweden, we are actually getting a degree of strength in numbers here. I never thought we would be seeing this. I was pessimistic on Sweden, but still hope it happens. But Im ecstatic seeing Switzerland and France rounding out the last second moves. I think the French one has most credibility once it gets moving along, but its nice to see them all in on it.

Just spitballing........maybe the southern slopes are part of the deal because the northern venues are all saying no?

Possibly. But can one region literally do it without the other? Could the south basically go it alone? Could the north go it alone? Or would that be basically Bacelona fraternal rivalries trying to upend each other?

I think you just talked yourself into the reasoning.......even though I completely disagree with it and think it makes less sense. The north will get the mountain and slope events. One of the riviera cities will get the ice events, as bewildering as that is (probably Nice). This is what the French bid is thinking, but I think it would be profoundly dumb using one of them instead of Lyon (and then, why do you even need the south bids in the first place unless the northern ski resorts arent on board?)

Was just at Barcelona last year and went up to the mountains. The situation was..........not good in terms of snow. I think this ship has sailed.

So I dunno what to think here. Trying to think like the IOC here, they probably letting Sweden stay in the driver's seat, and will let them stay there unless the Swedes vote down their bid. Obviously theyre probably hoping Sweden seals that deal. But does this also indicate that the IOC thinks France is a backup who can get their ducks in a row to get everything lined up in 4 1/2 years? It sort of feels like the IOC believes France to be a bit of an insurance policy, as flimsy as that might be.