IOC elects French Alps 2030 as Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games host

The French Alps are set to host the XXVI Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2030. This decision was taken by the IOC Members today during the 142nd IOC Session Paris. Their vote was subject to the submission of the Games Delivery Guarantee under timelines set by the IOC Executive Board, since this was not possible before the host election due to constitutional reasons in the current political context in France.

The Games Delivery Guarantee should be received from the Prime Minister at the latest by 1 October 2024 and should be ratified by the French Parliament no later than 1 March 2025.

The delegation of the French Alps 2030 was led by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, who expressed the full commitment of France to these Games. It also included the Presidents of the two regions where the Games will be held, Laurent Wauquiez of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Renaud Muselier of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, and the Presidents of the French Olympic and Paralympic Committees, David Lappartient and Marie-Amélie Le Fur.

IOC President Thomas Bach said: “President Macron and all stakeholders in French Alps 2030 have today reiterated their full commitment to the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2030. We have full confidence in France to organise an outstanding edition of the Olympic Winter Games, with the same creativity, imagination and flair we are currently experiencing at Paris 2024.”

President Macron said: “France pushes the limits of excellence every time it organises a sports event. We believe in the future of our mountains, and we need to support their model for the future: innovative, ambitious, mindful of ecological issues, and accessible by everyone.

“I reaffirm to you here this morning the full commitment of the French State to organising these Games. Paris 2024 will be a success, and the same will be true for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2030.

“You can trust us – we will be there, and we are proud to support this candidature for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2030.”

There was a final report by Karl Stoss, IOC Member and Chair of the Future Host Commission for the Olympic Winter Games, the IOC body responsible for monitoring and analysing interest in hosting the Olympic Winter Games and Winter Youth Olympic Games.

Mr Stoss said: “French Alps 2030 is a very solid project that benefits from strong public and political support, proven ability to deliver high-level sports competitions, excellent venues, and opportunities to capitalise on the knowledge and experience of France hosting Paris 2024.

“During our visit, the Commission felt that the legacy of Albertville 1992 continues to benefit local communities today. The vision of French Alps 2030 to stage responsible and sustainable Games, open to all, was very clear in our meetings with athletes, sports leaders and public authorities. French Alps 2030 has all the elements required to deliver successful Games.”

French Alps 2030 – known as Alpes françaises 2030 across the French-speaking world – aims to unite the north and south French Alps and make them a hub for winter sport, to bring maximum social and economic benefits to their communities.

It will be the first edition of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to fully integrate the principles of Olympic Agenda 2020 and 2020+5, as well as new requirements on sustainability set by the IOC’s Olympic Host Contract.

David Lappartient, President of the French National Olympic Committee (CNOSF), said: “I am proud and happy that the IOC has chosen the French Alps candidature to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2030. For several months now, we and the athletes have shared a collective ambition to offer simpler, responsible and inclusive Games, in line with the challenges of our times and the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020+5. Supported by the expertise of France and our communities in terms of organising major international events, we shall continue to work together to build the Games of tomorrow, for our young people and for the benefit of Olympism, winter sports and the mountains. The challenge is huge, but we are ready to take it on!”

Marie-Amélie Le Fur, President of the French Paralympic Committee (CPSF), said: “Our generation has the unique privilege of maintaining the impetus of the Paris 2024 Games. By organising the French Alps 2030 Games, we shall have the chance to immediately apply the lessons we are learning now by creating a new standard for the Games, which are adapting to the changes in our world and helping to speed up the development of sport for persons with disabilities.”

Laurent Wauquiez, President of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, said: “This victory is for our French Alps, a region with a passion for sport and structured by Olympism. We now have the great responsibility of offering the world simpler and sustainable Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, which will benefit the region and leave a legacy for everyone. Our ambition is now to offer the best setting in which to write the greatest story in the history of tomorrow’s mountains, with an event for the people that will inspire a passion for sport and live long in the memory of the next generations.”

Renaud Muselier, President of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, said: “Announced in January 2022, secured in July 2024: the Olympic and Paralympic Games are coming to the Région Sud in 2030! Thirty months of combat: the fastest anyone has ever obtained the Games. We’re going to show the world that the 21st century will have its Winter Games: reinvented, simpler, less costly. Exemplary sustainable Games, snow and chalets! Games that will benefit our communities and all our citizens. Long live the French Alps, long live the Games! ”

The finalisation of the Games Delivery Guarantee remains open for constitutional reasons in France, following the national election.

While French Alps 2030 submitted a signed copy of the Olympic Host Contract prior to the IOC Session, the IOC will not counter sign it until the Games Delivery Guarantee is received, at the latest by 1 October 2024, and ratified by the French Parliament no later than 1 March 2025.

There were 84 ‘yes’ votes for French Alps 2030 by the IOC Members, 4 ‘no’ votes and 7 abstentions, out of 88 valid votes.

The 142nd IOC Session also approved the initial sports programme for the Olympic Winter Games 2030, as proposed by the IOC Executive Board. The seven sports – biathlon, bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, luge, skating and skiing – will be governed by the relevant Winter International Sports Federations (IFs) listed in the Olympic Charter. There will be a new step to determine the disciplines in each sport approximately five years before the Games.