Next Winter Olympics organizers in French Alps deal with turmoil before handover from Milan Cortina
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MILAN (AP) — We’ve got this. Really, we do.
Organizers of the 2030 French Alps Olympics worked Saturday to put a positive sheen on their project that already was on the tightest of hosting schedules before being rocked by inner turmoil.
“We’re confident in our capacity to deliver these games in 2030 with a high degree of excellence,” said Edgar Grospiron, the former Olympic champion freestyle skier who leads the organizing committee.
The French Alps is officially next up on Sunday evening after a formal handover of the Olympic flag to its sports and public officials at the Milan Cortina Winter Games closing ceremony, being staged in Verona.
Hours earlier, the French organizing committee holds a board meeting amid tension between Grospiron and his director general, Cyril Linette, who is set to be the latest executive exit from a team launched just one year ago.
Grospiron acknowledged the “turbulence” Saturday at the traditional Olympic news conference for the next games host.
“For these games to be successful we do need stability, serenity, continuity and the organizing committee needs this,” he said. “We want to show the whole world, but also particularly the French, and I am sure that they will really see the worth of what we’ve done.”
The French Alps Winter Games — with speed skating destined to go abroad, at Turin, Italy, or Heerenveen in the Netherlands, where venues already exist — has always been on the tightest timeline of any modern Olympics.
Sweden denied again
The outline of a bid came together only in 2023. At the time, the International Olympic Committee was in talks with Swedish officials who had revived the Stockholm proposal that lost a hosting vote in 2019 against the Italian bid for these Winter Games that close Sunday.
Riding enthusiasm of preparations for the 2024 Paris Summer Games, from local Olympic officials and President Emmanuel Macron — whose term in office expires next year — the IOC and its then-leader Thomas Bach pivoted to France again. It left a bitter taste in Sweden.
IOC members confirmed the French Alps win in Paris at their eve-of-games meeting, giving the project just 5 1/2 years to prepare.
“We know, obviously, that there is little time,” Grospiron said. “Not just the time but the budget is tight. But we know we can do it.”
Spread-out Winter Games
Like the Milan Cortina Olympics, the French Alps has a split between snow sports in storied mountain resorts and skating in a snow-free city, the French Riviera resort Nice.
The final plan of venues, now including Alpine ski resort Val d’Isere, will be confirmed in June when the IOC decides the list of sports and events.
Until then, a top official from the hugely successful Paris Olympics, Étienne Thobois, is helping stabilize the French Alps team. The expertise gained at Paris shapes to be key for the next Winter Games.
“That also gives us the chance to go quickly,” Grospiron said, “and have this rhythm that is ours and be ready on time.”
___ AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics