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Stockholm/Are 2022?


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I think a lot of people actually love the idea of Sweden hosting the Winter Olympics. It is just such a natural fit - like Switzerland or Canada, Norway or Austria. But the problem is that Are is the only ski resort in the country that can host the downhill competition. And it is quite remote. Stockholm to Are is 600 kilometers. Ostersund is closer to Are, only 100 kilometers, but of course, they are smaller. This is not a small matter to overcome. The 125 kilometer distance from Vancouver to Whistler was seen as a challenge for the 2010 Games (although the local mountain at Cypress turned out to be the real bugger). So distance matters.

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I think a lot of people actually love the idea of Sweden hosting the Winter Olympics. It is just such a natural fit - like Switzerland or Canada, Norway or Austria. But the problem is that Are is the only ski resort in the country that can host the downhill competition. And it is quite remote. Stockholm to Are is 600 kilometers. Ostersund is closer to Are, only 100 kilometers, but of course, they are smaller. This is not a small matter to overcome. The 125 kilometer distance from Vancouver to Whistler was seen as a challenge for the 2010 Games (although the local mountain at Cypress turned out to be the real bugger). So distance matters.

I think you put it in a nutshell quite well. Sweden is a very appealing host country, but the distances involved are troublesome.

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In all fairness, distances like Vancouver/Whistler are what most bidders will probably offer, if not more. Geography is more of an issue in Winter than in Summer bids, so Stockholm wouldn't be alone with it. However, even if the rest of their bid would be very compact, the downhill races are core events in Winter, while e.g. equestrian in HK 2008 was just a side dish and a purely political venue decision anyway.

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I think a lot of people actually love the idea of Sweden hosting the Winter Olympics. It is just such a natural fit - like Switzerland or Canada, Norway or Austria. But the problem is that Are is the only ski resort in the country that can host the downhill competition. And it is quite remote. Stockholm to Are is 600 kilometers. Ostersund is closer to Are, only 100 kilometers, but of course, they are smaller. This is not a small matter to overcome. The 125 kilometer distance from Vancouver to Whistler was seen as a challenge for the 2010 Games (although the local mountain at Cypress turned out to be the real bugger). So distance matters.

However majority of events would be in Whistler. Only part of one discipline of the FIS is being proposed (8 events in Alpine skiing) to be in Are. This comparable to having football at the Summer Olympics in further away sites.

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However majority of events would be in Whistler. Only part of one discipline of the FIS is being proposed (8 events in Alpine skiing) to be in Are. This comparable to having football at the Summer Olympics in further away sites.

Yeah, but football at the games is one of the lesser events. Alpine skiing is one of the highest profile drawcards for a WOGs.

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Yeah, but football at the games is one of the lesser events. Alpine skiing is one of the highest profile drawcards for a WOGs.

I suppose so, but considering all that the slalom events are still being held in Stockholm. Its only the downhill events. It will be a tough sell no doubt about it.

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Yeah, but but we are talking about 125 kilometers vs. 600 kilometers. In 2003, the IOC expressed concern that 125 kilometers was "too far", but they went with it and Vancouver welcomed the world in 2010.

And while the current proposal is that Are would only host the Alpine events, the Swedes do have a greater distance to overcome. It doesn't outright kill their bid from the start, but it sets them back. The rest of the bid will have to be phenomenal to overcome that distance (which I'm sure it will be).

The IOC has accepted quirkier projects (although all were rejected in the end) - Helsinki 2006 and Quebec 2002 to name two.

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Helsinki 2006, though, was proposing the Alpine events in a totally different country with over two times the distance (which would've required flights) to get to the events. And Quebec 2002 had/has the vertical drop mountain problem. Also those two bids were far from the best options in their respective competive fields. Not to mention that Canada had already hosted in a Winter Olympics seven years prior when the 2002 decision came down. So those two aren't proper comparisons at all.

Sweden, OTHO, has that big compelling factor that could make the IOC make the exception. If the bid is solid in all of the other key elements, I don't see why in couldn't be competitive. Especially if the Swedes can come up with a proper solution. And holding what's absolutely necessary in Are is a good start. Now they need to come up with a good transport set up for it. While Munich is more compact, they have many more clusters to their bid that still gonna take at least two hours to get to them all. And Oslo has already hosted & Norway twice with the most recent Lillehammer 1994. And the remaining others like Krakow, Lviv & Almaty wouldn't be any match for the three strongest in this list. Especially when I believe the IOC is still going to continue the safe choice at least for one more cycle. Until the plans are revealed, I'm giving the Swedes the great benifit of the doubt for 2022.

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So Munich, Oslo, and Stockholm seem to be the most popular options here.

Munich seems like the best option in my eyes. It's the most compact bid of those. Even though that doesn't mean there wouldn't be some long drives. It takes 2h30min to drive from Königssee to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. MUC bid also has many existing venues. The only thing I don't like in that bid is splitting Nordic skiing events to two different towns with a two-hour drive between them.

After Munich, I think Oslo is the 2nd best bid. But the Lillehammer cluster is quite far from Oslo, which I see as a problem.

Long distances are also the problem with Stockholm/Åre. But it's not the longer distance to Alpine events why I see Stockholm as a worse bid than Oslo. I just think the Alpine events would be too much in isolation from the other sports. I prefer Oslo's concept where the Lillehammer cluster doesn't have only the Alpine events but also e.g. the sliding events. In Stockholm's case I'd prefer a concept where the indoor sports would be in Stockholm and snow sports in Åre. A bit like with Torino, indoor sports in Torino and snow sports in the Sestriere region.

Another reason why I prefer Oslo's bid to Stockholm's is that they have more venues existing. The only thing I prefer in Stockholm is that Sweden has never hosted the winter games, Norway hosted as recently as in 1994, partly in the same venues. But isolating Alpine events to Åre is a massive NO for me.

If Munich's bid gets rejected in the referendum, then I hope one of the more exotic candidates comes up with a compact bid and gets the games. I can see major weaknesses in Stockholm's and Oslo's bids.

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I think at one point, Quebec City was going to propose hosting the downhill events at the 1988 facility in Alberta, nearly 4000 kilometers away!

Stockholm is at a disadvantage here, but I'm fairly confident the IOC will let them through to the candidate phase, although they might grumble a bit about the distance.

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It wouldn't surprise me if, bar the events in Åre, the Stockholm bid turns out to be significantly more compact that Munich. And if Munich gets past the referendum with less than convincing majorities the Germans will start to look significantly less unassailable.

And Sweden have a powerful and compelling message. They are a stable, prosperous, democratic society, an Olympic power with sporting success both winter and summer. High rates of participation in sport and an outdoors-focussed culture. They haven't hosted an Olympics, apart from the 1956 events, in over 100 years. And crucially, unlike Germany, are unlikely to be considered a feasible host for the summer games. They offer something fresh and new whilst being a safe and reliable host.

I'm feeling increasingly confident.

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I agree that Stockholm could deliver a good package, though with my Munich citizen's heart, I hope ours will convince the IOC more ;-)

Seriously, I don't think Germany will put up a wirthy Summer bid any time soon unfortunately: Given recent hosts, Hamburg seems too small, and Berlin is a chaotic city which would have very very strong internal opposition, much more than Munich faced for 2018.

Also, there's the economic question: I've said it elsewhere before, but Germany offers a large market to IOC sponsors, and like it or not, that may also sway some IOC members.

Anyway, an exciting race for 2022 with several good options is much better than a boring one, or the "least evil" race for 2020.

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I agree that Stockholm could deliver a good package, though with my Munich citizen's heart, I hope ours will convince the IOC more ;-)

Seriously, I don't think Germany will put up a wirthy Summer bid any time soon unfortunately: Given recent hosts, Hamburg seems too small, and Berlin is a chaotic city which would have very very strong internal opposition, much more than Munich faced for 2018.

Also, there's the economic question: I've said it elsewhere before, but Germany offers a large market to IOC sponsors, and like it or not, that may also sway some IOC members.

Anyway, an exciting race for 2022 with several good options is much better than a boring one, or the "least evil" race for 2020.

I think that is a very good analysys.

Stockholm is a beautiful, stately and glamorous capital with palaces, boulevards and medieval spires but on a human scale, sustainable and intimate with green spaces, wilderness and natural beauty. This background to the Games would be amazing.

Another thing about Stockholm is that the ceremonies. Sweden has some of the most prolific and creative artists in the world. Of course by 2022 there may well be other artists but let's consider what makes Sweden and Stockholm sparkle in 2013:

Swedish House Mafia

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antidote-knife-party-swedish-house-mafia

Royal glamour

Princess+Madeleine+Princess+Victoria+Nob

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Queen+Silvia+Olympics+Day+12+Equestrian+

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Avicii

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Loreen

Loreen+Fans+Prepare+Eurovision+Contest+F

Eurovision

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Roxette

Roxette_Concert_-11.jpg

And of course ABBA - their music lives on

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Also, there's the economic question: I've said it elsewhere before, but Germany offers a large market to IOC sponsors, and like it or not, that may also sway some IOC members.

How does a bid campaign, though, try to "sway" members with this aspect. Obviously this argument doesn't work for Americans bids (which also offers a large market to IOC sponsors) so I don't see how it would mean anything to a German one, since you can't really blatantly use it without actually turning off many IOC members.

And Sweden have a powerful and compelling message. They offer something fresh and new whilst being a safe and reliable host.

I'm feeling increasingly confident.

As am I. The compelling factor is stronger in Sweden's case.

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Sweden has some of the most prolific and creative artists in the world.

I'm kinda suprised that you chose Loreen and Roxette to represent that creativeness.

The Tough Alliance (basically all form Sincerely Yours label), The Knife, Jens Lekkman, Mando Diao, The Hives, The Cardigans, Juvelen, Stina Nordenstam, Slagsmalsklubben, Dungen... Sweden really rules when it comes to pop and alternative/electronic music. I don't know how could it help bring WOG to Sweden but it's true that you rock considering popular music.

Well, Stockholm would get my vote against Oslo anyway.

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