The Future of the Olympics
6 October 2021
At the 138th IOC session in Singapore, the International Olympic Committee voted to award the 2030 Winter Olympics to Almaty, Kazakhstan, the only remaining bid after the withdrawal of a joint France-Spain bid. This decision seems to fly in the face of the IOC's commitment to sustainability outlined in the 2019 IOC session, which awarded the 2026 Winter games to Salt Lake City due to the bid highlighting the region's pre-existing structures and facilities available due to the 2002 Winter Olympics and further development in subsequent years. The Almaty bid was a major project of former Kazakh president Erik Tuleev, who wanted to highlight the nation's progress since the end of the war there and cultivate a new image of Kazakhstan as a prosperous, modern democracy.
It has been a rough year for the IOC and reputation of the Olympics. Next year's Winter Olympics, to be hosted in Kiev, Ukraine, had been imperiled by recurring news that many key facilities are still incomplete and lacking funding. The host committee is reported to be racking up large debts, and the government of President Nastia Konanovna has assumed direct oversight over construction projects. Earlier this summer, the IOC had to publicly deny rumors that they were considering an emergency move of the 2022 games to a different country with existing facilities, such as Italy, Norway, or Japan. Furthermore, last year's Summer Olympics in Istanbul faced a barrage of complaints from athletes and personnel that facilities in the Olympic Village were subpar and hastily constructed. The Olympics have already been developing a reputation for creating debt for the host locations and leaving behind infrastructure that remains unused after the games are over. However, this reputation has primarily followed the Summer Games, whereas the Winter Games of the 21st century have all been financially successful and had limited waste due to being held in places that regularly used the facilities, such as Montreal, Innsbruck, and Nagano.
The 2030 games are the last to be selected under the IOC's old bid process, in which National Olympic Committees (NOCs) submitted bids to the IOC, who then voted for the final bid. Starting with the 2032 Summer Olympics, all games both winter and summer will be awarded by the Host Selection Committee, which will select hosts from an open-ended list of cities that have expressed interest in hosting games in any year. The committee will place an emphasis on sustainability, preferring existing facilities to newly constructed ones, and utilizing green energy, mass transit, and having long term plans for facilities after the game. Hosts will also be selected 11 years in advance instead of 9, to give cities more time to make the necessary preparations. Cities expressing interesting in future games are Sapporo, Milan, Oslo, and St. Petersburg for Winter Games, and Brisbane, Beijing, Buenos Aires, and Paris for Summer Games.
6 October 2021
At the 138th IOC session in Singapore, the International Olympic Committee voted to award the 2030 Winter Olympics to Almaty, Kazakhstan, the only remaining bid after the withdrawal of a joint France-Spain bid. This decision seems to fly in the face of the IOC's commitment to sustainability outlined in the 2019 IOC session, which awarded the 2026 Winter games to Salt Lake City due to the bid highlighting the region's pre-existing structures and facilities available due to the 2002 Winter Olympics and further development in subsequent years. The Almaty bid was a major project of former Kazakh president Erik Tuleev, who wanted to highlight the nation's progress since the end of the war there and cultivate a new image of Kazakhstan as a prosperous, modern democracy.
It has been a rough year for the IOC and reputation of the Olympics. Next year's Winter Olympics, to be hosted in Kiev, Ukraine, had been imperiled by recurring news that many key facilities are still incomplete and lacking funding. The host committee is reported to be racking up large debts, and the government of President Nastia Konanovna has assumed direct oversight over construction projects. Earlier this summer, the IOC had to publicly deny rumors that they were considering an emergency move of the 2022 games to a different country with existing facilities, such as Italy, Norway, or Japan. Furthermore, last year's Summer Olympics in Istanbul faced a barrage of complaints from athletes and personnel that facilities in the Olympic Village were subpar and hastily constructed. The Olympics have already been developing a reputation for creating debt for the host locations and leaving behind infrastructure that remains unused after the games are over. However, this reputation has primarily followed the Summer Games, whereas the Winter Games of the 21st century have all been financially successful and had limited waste due to being held in places that regularly used the facilities, such as Montreal, Innsbruck, and Nagano.
The 2030 games are the last to be selected under the IOC's old bid process, in which National Olympic Committees (NOCs) submitted bids to the IOC, who then voted for the final bid. Starting with the 2032 Summer Olympics, all games both winter and summer will be awarded by the Host Selection Committee, which will select hosts from an open-ended list of cities that have expressed interest in hosting games in any year. The committee will place an emphasis on sustainability, preferring existing facilities to newly constructed ones, and utilizing green energy, mass transit, and having long term plans for facilities after the game. Hosts will also be selected 11 years in advance instead of 9, to give cities more time to make the necessary preparations. Cities expressing interesting in future games are Sapporo, Milan, Oslo, and St. Petersburg for Winter Games, and Brisbane, Beijing, Buenos Aires, and Paris for Summer Games.
