DamC

The convention center in Nice is being destroyed and replaced by a smaller venue that can't accomodate sports. It wouldn't make sense to include Nice in a bid centered around the Northern Alps resorts, Paris is closer to get to. You also have a smaller handball arena in Chambéry that could I think host curling, a 4k-seat Ice Hockey venue in Grenoble and the Palais des Sports from the 1968 Olympics there still standing that could really do with a renovation back to its former glory. (Then again, the green party mayors in Grenoble and Lyon would probably want nothing to do with an Olympic bid). A new multipurpose indoor arena is also being built near Annecy for the 2027 Track Cycling championships.

As mentioned before on this thread, Rhône-Alpes Auvergne has all the venues in place to host Winter Olympics, I don't see why Provence Alpe Côte-d'Azur has to be involved, except for political reasons. The ski resorts in the Southern Alps are far from major cities not as well connected as the ones in the North. I feel like any venue being located there would result in the need to spend a lot of money in transit upgrades. Quite unrealistic if you want to present a modern cost-effective concept. Lyon can pretty much host all ice events on its own (or with the help of Chambéry and/or Grenoble). No need to have Marseille and Nice in the mix.

The city is already going to be packed with street events and stadiums in iconic locations... Maybe he should have had this idea a few years ago.

I've known about the decision to move the MPC for months, I feel like it was already up on the Wikipedia page or in an article I read somewhere. Weird that it's only being reported now. This makes sense for journalists who move around the venues all day long since the Palais des Congrès is much closer to central Paris than Le Bourget.

I assume 20h24 will be the start of the televised part of the ceremony. When each boat carrying the athletes will start arriving at the Trocadero. There's no point in following the entire boat parade down the Seine. Maybe broadcasters will have access to a feed of the entire procession they can use as "preshow" program.

This is super early and is going to have implications for major sport events. The Tour de France usually runs for the first three weeks of July for instance, it usually starts in late June when the Olympics start in July but I don't think it can start earlier than that. The Tour and the Olympics are probably going to run concurrently for a least a week. Maybe the LA28 schedule will adapt by having the Cycling road events on the final weekend of the games.

Both events were supposed to be held the same summer anyways, what difference does it make?

Maybe this whole "agenda 2020" thing has gone too far Depending on whether they schedule the events in the morning or the afternoon, surfing could be on during primetime in the U.S.!

Some other news on the venue front: - The Aquatics Center will be semi-temporary. A 15k-seat temporary pool will host the Swimming events; a permanent 50m-pool will host Water Polo; and a permanent diving pool will host Diving. Originally, Water Polo was supposed to be held in a separate venue (Stade Marville), but now Stade Marville will still be renovated and used as a training venue. Obviously this will save money, which is good news in terms of legacy. - Fencing will no longer be held in a temporary arena in Le Bourget (next to Volleyball and Shooting). The temporary arena will instead be built somewhere inside Paris, to avoid paying eviction fees to the current landowners in Le Bourget. - The Media Village will be sightly smaller (1300 units instead of 1500) and the Athletes' Village masterplan has changed to reduce the amount of evictions of current tenants. source: http://www.leparisien.fr/sports/la-piscine-sera-bien-semi-demontable-05-06-2018-7753218.php

It's gonna be fine... Some planned lines that will not serve the future Olympic venues will be downsized/delayed/cancelled to make the cost of the overall project more bearable and that's it. Most of the venues are close to existing transit lines anyways. Obviously this new "super-metro" is supposed to improve service a lot but It looks like the areas where the venues will be are not gonna be the affected ones.

I actually think Lyon is France's best shot at Winter Olympics. However, I don't think Grenobe is the best area for mountain venues. It's infrastructure is lacking compared to Savoie. Grenoble has a train station but it's still far from the different resorts for example. And these resorts are not ready to host international events, so it would require a lot of work. It's feasible, but I think Savoie is more practical. The venues used for Albertville are still here, and could be reused. However, that valley (Tarentaise) is very narrow and urbanized, and I actually don't think there is any space left to build an Olympic Village and a Media Centre... The Maurienne area, however, could handle it. The new Lyon-Turin high train link should be open by 2025, and it goes through the Maurienne valley. To reach St-Jean-de-Maurienne by train from Lyon would then only take 1h30. From there, there are several mountain resorts around 15 minutes away. They could still use La Plagne for Bobsleigh/Luge/Skeleton, even though it's quite far from Lyon or Saint-Jean, and maybe even Courchevel for Ski Jumping. Regarding the arenas in the city of Lyon, I think the new ASVEL Arena could host Ice Hockey, the Palais des Sports (around 5,000 seats) could host Curling. However, Halle Tony Garnier is too narrow to host speed skating (84 meters when the oval itself is 70-meter wide, I feel like it's not enough if you have to include seating and concourses around it). However it could be the secondary hockey venue, with 6,000 temporary seats. Figure Skating could be hosted inside one of Eurexpo's halls. And they could build the speed skating oval next to it, so that it could be converted into an exhibition hall after the games. Eurexpo could host the IBC/MPC. Stade de Gerland should host the ceremonies. Winter Olympics are in the middle of the football season and i don't think OL (which owns the new Parc OL) would want to give their stadium away for a month. Gerland also has the advantage of being inside the city and next to several other venues and the Confluence area (where the Olympic Village could be located).

Grisons/Graubünden just voted against a 2026 bid. That bid had been in shambles since Zurich refused to support it anyways, but that now leaves Sion (Valais) as the only Swiss candidate left. Too bad Geneva isn't part of that bid, because it would make it much easier for them (Geneva has most of the venues for ice sports in place + a large stadium and an international airport)

The 2024 village site is indeed prime real estate. The new metro station there will be the most important one for the new Grand Paris Express project. It is poised to become an important transportation and business hub in the coming decades.

IOC requirements ask for a bigger venue for Basketball than for Handball so that's probably why. The 2012 village site has been developed since losing the bid. It has become a new neighborhood with a park and the new courthouse building is under construction there:

I don't know if the subject has already been covered in this thread or not but... I was watching parts of the 1984 opening ceremony and wondering at what time it started. It was broad daylight at the start and twilight at the end of it. This would mean that it took place during the late afternoon in order to air in the prime time hours on the East Coast (assuming it was shown live on ABC? I can't find any information online). I'm just wondering whether a LA Olympics in 2024 would mean the return of daylight ceremonies given that these huge events in the US are always scheduled with East Coast viewers in mind...