markun Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Following discussion on Stockholm's withdrawal it was said that Dick Pound stated that there are 27 countries that could host the Winter Olympics. Thinking of this I put this list together. What do people think?Have hosted or been awardedAustriaBosnia & HerzegovinaCanadaFranceGermanyItalyJapanKoreaNorwaySwitzerlandUSAHave made realistic bidFinlandSwedenBulgariaSpainSlovakiaPolandAndorraChinaKazakhstanGeorgiaUkraineCould make realistic bidRomaniaSloveniaCould make realistic bid with date changeArgentinaChileNew ZealandAustralia?Wildcards - could probably make realistic bidCroatiaCzech RepublicHungary?India?Morocco?SerbiaTurkeyImpossible dreamsHave Alpine ski facilities but unlikely to be succesful due to small size, unreliable conditions, requiring major infrastructure investment or political change. These might also require extensions to hills to ensure necesary drop for Alpine events.Pakistan (made bid for 1960 but I haven't included it as I don't consider it realistic)AlbaniaAlgeriaArmeniaAzerbaijanBelarusBelgiumBoliviaCyprusEstoniaFYR MacedoniaGreeceIcelandIranIsraelKosovoKyrgyzstanLebanonLesothoLiechtensteinMexicoMongoliaMontenegroNorth KoreaPortugalSouth AfricaTajikistanUzbekistan Sorry, missed out Russia! (wishful thinking...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faster Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Sweden, Norway, Germany, France, Spain, Andorra, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Canada, USA, Chile, New Zealand, Japan, China, Korea, Turkey and I can think of a few that could go in this spot, but I assume it refers to either Iran or Lebanon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanMUC Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Hungary's highest mountain is 1014 m (thank you, Wikipedia), this isn't even a far-fetched dream, but a big no. Even the UK with the Scottish resorts or Iceland seems more realistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markun Posted January 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Hence the question mark for Hungary. I wasn't sure if they had capacity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p85 Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 The highest points of Estonia and Belarus are about 300 m. Those countires aren't even Impossible dreams. I remember my talk with StefanMUC about Czech Republic's hosting abilities, and it looks like Czechs don't have a proper downhill slope. I think it might be also an issue for Croatia - they have mountain resorts, but men downhill requirements rule them out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StefanMUC Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 ^ I've been to Liberec some weeks ago, I just can't imagine how a Czech bid in the current framework cpuld be successful: You'd need Prague as the anchor for all indoor events, Liberec to the North for Nordics (and perhaps so e Ice Hockey matches), and Spindleruv Mlyn to the North-East for alpine, but it's not enough for downhill, so they would also have to ask nicely in Jasna, I guess. That would stretch the whole thing very far out, unfortunately. But maybe that's also some kind of pragmatism and innovation the IOC would be willing to test in the next few decades if they find less and less able bidders... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athensfan Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Qatar. With enough money anything is possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 new jersey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krow Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Qatar. With enough money anything is possible. you remember our dubai bid. it was funny because it was well thought out. a giant downhill slope inside a skyscraper shopping mall. what's so far fetched about that? they already have indoor skiing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brekkie Boy Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 What's the minimum height a mountain needs to be to host a world class skiing event? And wasn't the Netherlands going to build one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FYI Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 Can we really say that Finland (with its Alpine proposal all the way in fricken Norway), (rinky-dink) Andorra, (insignificant) Georgia, (much unprepared) Ukraine or (much over-rated) Kazackstan, have made "realistic" bids. Finland didn't make it to the final ballot for 2006, & the others didn't (or won't) even make short-list phase. And there are reasons for that. *Finland (along with four others) weren't even allowed on the 2006 ballot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox334 Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 Can we really say that Finland (with its Alpine proposal all the way in fricken Norway), (rinky-dink) Andorra, (insignificant) Georgia, (much unprepared) Ukraine or (much over-rated) Kazackstan, have made "realistic" bids. Finland didn't make it to the final ballot for 2006, & the others didn't (or won't) even make short-list phase. And there are reasons for that. *Finland (along with four others) weren't even allowed on the 2006 ballot. Two things: the 2006 ballot was purposely limited to two bids due to the 2002 bid scandal, so you can't really hold not making that shortlist against a city, and Kazakhstan is putting on the second best technical bid for 2022 (behind Oslo). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony E Loves Architecture Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 How can Andorra even think that they are capable of hosting a Winter Olympics. The Olympic Park would take up 95 per cent of the Country. Just joking. But seriously, the size of Andorra is like a dot on the map, would never be capable of Hosting a Winter Olympics. Anyway, if Oslo pulls out, Krakow will win. Almaty will only win if it's Almaty and Lviv left over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FYI Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 I know that. A special, seperate group was brought in to access the bids & in the end, & recommended that only Sion & Turin be brought to a vote. That's why I said Finland was one of four other bids that weren't "allowed" on the 2006 ballot. And seriously, if some people here were griping at Stockholm's distance issue with Are, & claiming that they weren't gonna make the 2022 short-list bcuz of that weakness, then what little more could Helsinki 2006 had hoped for if they were proposing a distance more than twice as far than Stockholm's. It was a no brainer. Even if there had been a short-list for 2006, the only other bid that could've gone forward was Klagenfurt's. Helsinki (with their outlandish Alpine proposal), Zakopane & Popead-Tatry still would've been out anyway. As far as Almaty, it's at the very least debatable that they have the "second best" technical bid behind Oslo. Which that in itself, doesn't garantee anything anyway. Doha TWICE was told that they couldn't compete (& it wasn't just about their October dates) despite them outscoring two other bids that respectively did make the 2016 & 2020 short-list. I still could see Almaty being treated the same way. Especially with all the headaches Sochi 2014 is giving the IOC. They mostly likely want something much less controversial for 2022. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony E Loves Architecture Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 I know that. A special, seperate group was brought in to access the bids & in the end, & recommended that only Sion & Turin be brought to a vote. That's why I said Finland was one of four other bids that weren't "allowed" on the 2006 ballot. And seriously, if some people here were griping at Stockholm's distance issue with Are, & claiming that they weren't gonna make the 2022 short-list bcuz of that weakness, then what little more could Helsinki 2006 had hoped for if they were proposing a distance more than twice as far than Stockholm's. It was a no brainer. Even if there had been a short-list for 2006, the only other bid that could've gone forward was Klagenfurt's. Helsinki (with their outlandish Alpine proposal), Zakopane & Popead-Tatry still would've been out anyway. As far as Almaty, it's at the very least debatable that they have the "second best" technical bid behind Oslo. Which that in itself, doesn't garantee anything anyway. Doha TWICE was told that they couldn't compete (& it wasn't just about their October dates) despite them outscoring two other bids that respectively did make the 2016 & 2020 short-list. I still could see Almaty being treated the same way. Especially with all the headaches Sochi 2014 is giving the IOC. They mostly likely want something much less controversial for 2022. I agree with most of that. The thing I disagree with is that only Klagenfurt would of joined Turin and Sion, I think the IOC would of chosen 4 cities in normal circumstances, choosing Helsinki in the shortlist aswell. This theory that Stockholm wouldn't of been chosen, because of the distance with Are is completely not true. Almaty is not the second best behind Oslo, Krakow is now the second best behind Oslo. Almaty will be outsiders with Lviv now, because the IOC don't want more controversies like @FYI stated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenadian Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 The men's downhill requires a vertical drop of 800 meters (or about 2600 feet). Elevation, for the most part, is irrelevant. You can have big tall mountains but only part of it can be skied. Grouse Mountain here in Vancouver, for example, has an elevation over 1200 meters but its vertical drop (essentially the distance from the top of the most skiable area to the bottom of the skiable area) is only 350 meters. Interestingly, the Vancouver Sun today featured an article that claims climate change in the future will cut the list of host city potentials. The study claims only 6 of 19 past Olympic hosts will be able to stage the Games in the future. http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/gold+former+Olympic+cities+climate+warms/9420310/story.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zekekelso Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 How can Andorra even think that they are capable of hosting a Winter Olympics. Why not? All you need is room for the venues and ability for people to get there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4gamesandcounting Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 The men's downhill requires a vertical drop of 800 meters (or about 2600 feet). Elevation, for the most part, is irrelevant. You can have big tall mountains but only part of it can be skied. Grouse Mountain here in Vancouver, for example, has an elevation over 1200 meters but its vertical drop (essentially the distance from the top of the most skiable area to the bottom of the skiable area) is only 350 meters. Interestingly, the Vancouver Sun today featured an article that claims climate change in the future will cut the list of host city potentials. The study claims only 6 of 19 past Olympic hosts will be able to stage the Games in the future. http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/gold+former+Olympic+cities+climate+warms/9420310/story.html Couldn't see in the article which 6 they claim will be okay, my guess: Salt Lake City, Lillehammer, Oslo, Innsbruck, lake placid, albertville? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FYI Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 Why not? All you need is room for the venues and ability for people to get there. Oh geez, seriously. That posts seems more a trolling one than anything else. When has a nation of 85,000 ever hosted the Olympics, besides never. And how do you propose that their $4.5 billion economy pay for it when even the cheapest Winter Olympics costs at least $6 Billion. And that's just for starters. So that would be a big, fat no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zekekelso Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 When has a nation of 85,000 ever hosted the Olympics, besides never. And how do you propose that their $4.5 billion economy pay for it when even the cheapest Winter Olympics costs at least $6 Billion. And that's just for starters. So that would be a big, fat no. Countries? No. But lots of cities that small have hosted. And cities host Olympics, not countries. The money's an issue.... Today. If we get back to lower cost games... or the revenue increases to make them break even.. neither of which is impossible. Remember, this isn't the "who could host in 2026" thread. It's the who could host ever thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gangwon Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 Interesting article, though weak journalism. Saying the average temperature of 1920-1950's hosts was 0.4 degrees compared to 7.8 degrees for 21st century hosts, and using that as an example of climate change? Really? Like Vancouver and Sochi comprising of half of the 21st century hosts has nothing to do with it? If I had to guess the 6 past hosts who could still host by 2100, I'd say St. Moritz, Oslo, Sapporo, Calgary, Lillehammer and Salt Lake City. If Chamonix and Garmsich (according to the article) will be too warm, I can't think of which of the Alps hosts wouldn't be. Maybe St. Moritz, since it's so high up. I remember reading a while back that Innsbruck and Grenoble had problems with snow during their Olympics, and I know Cortina is having a hard time these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 He's (Tony E) such a f*cking phony TROLL. Pretending to be this sponge for knowledge & things Olympic...and then, like, in the logo contests, he would ask for feedback, blithely IGNORE them (which s/he has the privilege to do), and then goes ZERO in the voting?? Even my jokey "Chitty CHittey Bang Bangkok got 5 more votes than his BIG GOOSE EGG entry! Shameless prick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intoronto Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Andorra had half or more of its venue proposal in Spain and France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FYI Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Countries? No. But lots of cities that small have hosted. And cities host Olympics, not countries. The money's an issue.... Today. If we get back to lower cost games... or the revenue increases to make them break even.. neither of which is impossible. Remember, this isn't the "who could host in 2026" thread. It's the who could host ever thread. For someone who's always advocating the likes of "countries", &/or multiple cities, should host the Olympics, in order to broaden potential prospects, you're sure contradicting yourself here. Yeah, cities host the Olympics, but in the end it's the *country's* government that flips most of the bill. Andorra hosting the Winter Olympics is even far more absurd than much larger Greece hosting their own Summer Olympics. With the way the IOC wants financial guarantees from the "national" governments, there's no way that even increasing revenues would pay for everything. And going back to lower cost Games?! Hahahahahaha! That ship has LONG sailed! If anything, the IOC curtail the Games from getting even more gargantuan, but cutting way back is not going to happen for the likes of something like Andorra. Who said anything about 2026. Andorra is just unrealistic no matter how you look at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trylon Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 The article is interesting but the projected climate patterns are not a certainty especially fifty years down the road. Current snow packs at Squaw Valley are about 51 cm, about 38 cm at Whiteface in Lake Placid, and both are well below average. There has been a 20% loss of snow pack in the mountains near Calgary. Nagano in Japan has had very light snowfall in recent years resulting in damage to their ski industry. If the pattern continues, it will become strangely difficult to find true winter sports conditions. And oddly, Canada and the US have faced on of the coldest winters in decades and parts of the Canadian prairie and eastern provinces along with the US Midwest and northeast have endured below freezing weather conditions for weeks on end. In the final analysis, all predictions are, in reality, unpredictable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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