Potential 2026 Olympic venues discussed behind closed doors

Behind closed doors, Calgary city council’s 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Assessment committee got a first hand look at what venues are being considered should Calgary go ahead with a bid for the 2026 games.

While the discussions were in-camera, it seems that Whistler is being looked at for ski jumping and Nakiska could be hosting alpine ski events.  That’s according to the start of a question from Councillor Ray Jones during the open part of the meeting.

“I don’t know at what point I can bring this up but I was noticing last night when I was reading this, deciding where sports are going to played, like the ski jumps at Whistler, using Nakiska,” Jones said before he was cut off by committee chair, Evan Woolley.

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“I just need to really be careful of the confidential portions of the report.”

The recommendations on venues will go on to the Bid Corporation which will then make the final decisions. The chair of that committee, which includes representatives of the three levels of government and the Canadian Olympic committee, is expected to be announced in the next couple of days.

The committee also heard from city manager Jeff Fielding that a lot of work is happening on the Olympic file.

“There is a meeting scheduled this Friday with the COC (Canadian Olympic Committee), there’s also a meeting mid month with the IOC (International Olympic Committee) in Switzerland” said Fielding.

The IOC is paying for six people from Calgary to go to Lausanne, Switzerland, for a working session and update on the planning that has taken place in Calgary.

In late July, Calgary city council is expected to hear about the framework for a multi party agreement which will provide some detail on how much the Federal and Provincial governments are willing to provide should Calgary host the games.