Calgary voters have clearly rejected the idea of bidding to host a second Winter Olympics in the Canadian city. If you can’t sell the Games to Calgary, the Olympics are in serious trouble, writes DW’s Chuck Penfold.
More than 56 percent of the Calgarians who voted in Tuesday’s plebiscite on whether to bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympics gave the idea the thumbs down.
It was a surprisingly clear decision, with the polls prior to the vote having predicted a much closer result which could have gone either way. But the people have spoken, and they have delivered a clear rebuke to the idea of using public money to fund the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) two-week long winter party. Calgary City Council is expected to formally kill the bid at a meeting next week.
Of course, it’s impossible to say exactly what turned so many Calgarians off of the idea, but there are a number of plausible factors, not least the IOC’s reputation, which has been tarnished by a number of scandals over the past couple of decades. Foremost in Calgarians minds, though, had to be the costs associated with hosting the Olympics.
It’s no secret that plenty of cities that have hosted either the Summer or Winter Olympics have found themselves left with hefty bills to pay – often including white-elephant venues – years after the athletes have come and gone. Montreal, Athens, Rio de Janeiro and Sochi are just a few of the examples.
However, this doesn’t have to be the case, as demonstrated by Vancouver’s very successful 2010 Winter Olympics, which, according to VANOC (Vancouver’s organizing committee) broke even. This, apart from the success of the Canadian athletes at their last home Winter Games, is one reason Canadians look back with fondness on the 2010 Games.
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