US leaning towards 2030 Winter Games bid

LOS ANGELES: The United States Olympic Committee said Friday 2030 was the preferred option as it eyes a bid for the Winter Olympics.

USOC Chief Executive Scott Blackmun said US officials were tilting away from a bid for the Winter Olympics in 2026. The United States last hosted the Winter Games in Salt Lake City in 2002. US officials have said they are reluctant to bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics to avoid the possibility of confusion with the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

The United States is also the clear favourite to host the football World Cup in 2026, along with Canada and Mexico.“We’re very interested in bringing the Games back to the United States,” Blackmun told reporters on a conference call.

“There are significant challenges in doing that for 2026. In all candor, we’re leaning in the 2030 direction.”Salt Lake City, Denver and Reno-Tahoe on Nevada’s border with California are among US cities to have expressed interest. “We’ve encouraged three cities to be in dialogue with the International Olympic Committee,” Blackmun added.

US cities wishing to bid for the 2026 games must submit their candidacies by March 2018.The next Winter Olympics take place in Pyeongchang, South Korea, next February. Meanwhile, the USOC said it will send a full team to compete at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang despite mixed messages this week from the White House about whether the US would participate.

UN Ambassador Nikki Haley had said it was an “open question” as to whether the US would travel to South Korea amid weapons tests by its neighbour North Korea and White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters no official decision had been made before clarifying in a tweet that the “US looks forward to participating”.

“I think there was just some miscommunication there rather than anything intended to be substantive,” Blackmun told reporters following a board meeting. “We are going to take a team to Pyeongchang unless it’s phy-sically impossible or legally impossible to do that,” he said.