With the City of Calgary voting this week to spend up to $5 million to explore the feasibility of bringing the Olympics back to Alberta, there is Bow Valley interest in the likelihood of hosting alpine and nordic events as a result.
Canmore Mayor John Borrowman said he’s been in contact with Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, “to indicate that if the city was to get serious about putting in a bid, that the Town of Canmore would certainly want to work with the city as co-hosts for the 2026 Winter Olympics.”
Borrowman said if the city is to host the 2026 Olympics, the Canmore Nordic Centre (CNC) is a probable choice for Nordic events, which include cross-country skiing and biathlon.
A formal discussion regarding the 2026 Olympics hasn’t yet occurred at Canmore town council, but now that Calgary has given approval to explore a bid option, Borrowman said he expects it would happen shortly.
“We certainly are involved, have been involved and will continue to be involved with Calgary,” said Borrowman. “I will be meeting with Mayor Nenshi in the near future to talk about how we would be involved in the final submission of the bid.”
The CNC, originally built for the 1988 Calgary Olympics, has remained a world-class nordic venue and continues to host various international competitions such as Ski Tour Canada – FIS World Cup in March of this year. The event marked the first time the world cup final was held outside of Europe.
Marco De Iaco, executive director of the Calgary Sport Tourism Authority (CTSA), which has been the main driver behind the Olympic bid, said it’s too early to speculate on what will be proposed by the exploration committee, but that they “will make sure we engage with all stakeholders and municipalities in Calgary and area and in the Bow Valley.
“One of the complex tasks of the exploration committee is to create a master hosting plan that will identify sporting venues and villages and media facilities,” said De Iaco.
“We look forward to the findings of that report, so that all three levels of government and the Canadian Olympic Committee and all relevant stakeholders can make an informed decision on whether the Games is in the best interest of Calgarians, Albertans, and Canadians.”
Borrowman said not many details regarding the Bow Valley’s involvement are known yet, but should the bid be given some weight, there will be a lot of work to do “to understand what the financial commitment might be from the town and municipality.
“We’ll be doing studies, of course, to show projected benefits to the town, over and above the pure excitement and thrill.”
In December 2014 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) launched Agenda 2020, which introduced changes to host city bid requirements. Under Agenda 2020, the IOC considers it favourable for a bid city to employ “the maximum of use of existing facilities and the use of temporary and demountable venues where no long-term venue legacy need exists or can be justified.”
The Olympic Oval, Canmore Nordic Centre, and Canada Olympic Park (COP) are legacy facilities currently used as training centres for national teams and continue to host international competitions.
However, the ski hill at COP is outdated and a new venue for the opening and closing ceremonies would be needed. Nakiska Ski Resort was built to host the alpine events during the 1988 Olympics and was named one of Alpine Canada’s National Training Centres in 2008, however, there is no information at this time as to whether the bid would look into holding the alpine events in the Bow Valley again, or within Banff National Park. In 1988, no Olympic events were permitted within the national park.
The Town of Banff declined to provide an official to answer questions regarding the potential for Olympic events to be held locally.
In a statement, Banff said, “We look forward to hearing the results of the study approved by the City of Calgary. We anticipate that other communities in the region may be involved and, as a community which often plays host to the world, know the potential the Bow Valley has to offer.”
Should Calgary host the 2026 Olympics, the city will also host the 2026 Paralympics. It would be the first time for Calgary as host for the Paralympics as they were not held in Calgary in 1988, but were instead held in Innsbruck, Austria for a second time.
Calgary has until 2017 to put in a bid and the host city will be selected in 2019, seven years before the Olympics.
