Stockholm bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics explained

Stockholm 2022 was a bid by Stockholm with Åre and the Swedish Olympic Committee for the 2022 Winter Olympics.[1] The bid was announced at November 11, 2013. The IOC will select the host city for the 2022 Winter Olympics at the 127th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on July 31, 2015. Stockholm previously hosted the 1912 Summer Olympics and hosted equestrian events at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne.

On 17 January 2014, the Moderate Party in Stockholm decided not to support the bid, and after that there is a clear majority in the city council against organising the games.[2]

On 17 January 2014, Stockholm dropped a bid for 2022 Winter Olympics.[3]

History

In summer 2013, the Swedish Olympic Committee (SOK) has expressed plans to submit an application for the 2022 Winter Olympics and the 2022 Winter Paralympics in the capital Stockholm. Four alpine skiing events will be held in Åre in northern Sweden. SOK has the support of the Swedish Sports Organization for the Disabled and Swedish Paralympic Committee and the Swedish Sports Confederation. Some people has expressed that the distance between Stockholm and Åre is too far, about 610km (380miles). Åre has three times before applied for the games together with nearby city of Östersund, but have been turned down all times. Östersund was also interested in a potential 2022 bid, but the Swedish Olympic Committee decided not to move forward with bidding due to a lack of financial guarantees from the government. Östersund is probably also too small to host the Olympic Games. Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, Minister for Culture and Sports, has said that she finds it difficult to see a future Olympic games in Sweden. The president of the Swedish Olympic Committee Stefan Lindeberg thinks that Stockholm's size is perfect for the Winter Olympics and says the city already has the most of what is needed. According to calculations, a Swedish Olympic Games will costs approximately 15–20 billion SEK ( 1.7–2.3 billion).[4]

On October 1, 2013, investigator Jöran Hägglund indicated that it is entirely possible to host the Winter Olympics in Stockholm. Hägglund estimated the implementation budget to 9.79 billion SEK (€ 1.13 billion) and the investment budget to 2.5 billion SEK (€ 290 million). The games will be concentrated entirely in the Stockholm area, and only eight of the alpine events are planned to be held in Åre. He also said that five investments are necessary; a new track to bobsleigh, luge and skeleton, improve the vertical drop fairly much in Flottsbrobacken, a new ski jump, speed skating venue and a cross country venue. The infrastructure and other ice venues already exists in Stockholm. The reason for this cost cut is that the Swedish government does not want to support the games with big money (several 100 million euros). However the IOC requires the government to guarantee support for cost overruns etc.[5] A more thorough investigation showed that the cost estimation was uncertain. IOC requirements would demand reconstruction of several existing arenas, adding VIP lounges for IOC members and separate ones for media, restaurant kitchens etc.

Previous bids

Stockholm hosted the 1912 Summer Olympics. Stockholm also hosted the Equestrian events in the 1956 Summer Olympics.

Stockholm bid to host the 2004 Summer Olympics but lost to Athens.

Previous bids by other Swedish cities

Gothenburg (with cities spread over Sweden) bid to host the 1984 Winter Olympics but lost to Sarajevo. Falun (with Åre) bid to host the 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics but lost to Calgary and Albertville respectively.

Östersund bid to host the 1994, 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics but lost to Lillehammer, Nagano and Salt Lake City respectively.

Future bids

Stockholm co-bidded for the 2026 with Åre, but lost out to Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

Venues

List of proposed venues:[6]

Competition venues

Venue Status Capacity Sport(s).
Stockholm City Zone
Existing 15,000 Figure skating
Short track speed skating
Existing 14,000 Ice hockey
Existing, work required 9,000 Ice hockey
Existing 15,000 Freestyle skiing (aerials)
Existing, work required 6,000 Speed skating
Temporary 10,000 Freestyle skiing (moguls, halfpipe)
Snowboarding (halfpipe)
Additional 10,000 Bobsleigh
Luge/skeleton
Temporary 14,000 Freestyle skiing (ski cross, slopestyle)
Snowboarding (snowboard cross, parallel slalom, slope style)
Additional 15,000 Biathlon
Temporary 13,000 Cross country skiing
Ski jumping
Planned 3,000 Curling
Åre Alpine Venue
Existing 11,500 Alpine skiing

Non-sporting venues

Venue Status Capacity Use
Stockholm City Zone
Existing 50,000 seats Opening and closing ceremonies
Planned 5,450 beds Olympic village
Existing 10,000 media representatives International Broadcasting Centre
Existing 10,000 Medal Plaza
Åre Alpine Venue
Åre Snow Village Planned 650 beds Olympic village

Transportation

Stockholm is served by the Stockholm-Arlanda Airport, which has intercontinental flights. The distance between Stockholm and Åre is about 610km (380miles). There will be air connections to Åre Östersund Airport around 90 km from Åre. There are suggestions to use an airfield at Järpen (25km (16miles) from Åre), which probably must be upgraded to be used for commercial passenger flights. Groups in large planes going to Åre will probably use the Trondheim Airport in Norway (130km (80miles) from Åre). There are train connections between Stockholm and Åre, needing around 6 hours.

Notes and References

  1. http://www.dn.se/sport/stockholm-soker-os-2022/ "Stockholm söker OS 2022"
  2. http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=103&artikel=5759142 Just nu: Inget vinter-OS i Stockholm
  3. http://www.thelocal.se/20140117/stockholm-drops-bid-for-2022-winter-olympics Stockholm drops bid for 2022 Winter Olympics
  4. Web site: Vinter-OS i Stockholm?. Sveriges Olympiska Kommitté. 4 June 2013.
  5. Web site: Sverige kan arrangera vinter-OS 2022. Sveriges Television. 1 October 2013.
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20161020105436/http://sok.se/download/18.175b1b4d14fb2705f8b5e67/1441885567123/140312,Concept+Stockholm+2022,+summary,+eng.pdf "Winter Games Stockholm 2022"