Olympic Games: Tyroleans vote on Innsbruck’s bid

In Tyrol, the decision on Sunday will be made to apply for the Innsbruck/Tyrol region to host the 2026 Olympic Winter Games.The inhabitants of the Austrian federal state are called upon to vote on the Olympic plans in parallel with the national parliamentary elections in Austria.

The supporters of an application, led by the Austrian National Olympic Committee (ÖOC), the province of Tyrol and the city of Innsbruck, advertise their efforts under the slogan “Bring Olympia home”.They also argue with a concept of sustainability and humility.

Smaller and, above all, cheaper games are to be organised, no new sports facilities are to be built and no tax money is to be used.The speed skating competitions could be held in Germany on the Inzell track.

The budget for possible games in the Innsbruck/Tyrol region (excluding costs for the Olympic Village, the expansion of transport infrastructure or security) is 1.175 billion euros and will be financed by income from the IOC, sponsorship and tickets.Opponents of the Olympic bid, however, warn against the threat of environmental damage caused by the Games and a possible cost explosion.By way of comparison, the last Winter Games in Russia’s Sochi (2014) cost around 40 billion euros.

The decision on the host of the next winter games after Pyeongchang 2018 and Beijing 2022 is to be made in December 2019.No candidature is fixed yet.In Switzerland, the Federal Council will make a final decision on an application for Sion 2026 in the near future.In addition, Calgary (Canada), Salt Lake City (USA) and Lillehammer (Norway), which, like Innsbruck, have already hosted winter games, are also interested.