France and the USA came a step closer to hosting the 2030 and 2034 Winter Olympics respectively, when the International Olympics Committee announced on Wednesday that they have been selected for discussions - "targeted dialogue" in IOC parlance - about hosting the games.
The announcement came after the IOC Future Host Commission recommended to the Executive Board that the 2030 Games be awarded to the French Alps and the 2034 Games to Salt Lake City, should the talks be successful.
Under recent Olympic bidding reforms, the IOC can enter targeted dialogue with what it deems a “preferred host” candidate rather than hold a traditional race with bids from multiple candidates all the way through to a final vote by IOC members.
Targeted dialogue was used, for example, to choose Brisbane, Australia, as host of the 2032 Summer Olympics. In February 2021, the IOC announced that it had entered targeted dialogue with Australian officials. Five months later, Brisbane was elected host.
"The IOC will now start more detailed discussions with the Preferred Hosts, led by their National Olympic Committees (NOCs), with the aim of awarding both editions at the 142nd IOC Session in July in Paris," the IOC said in a statement.
While only Salt Lake City in Utah, USA, had launched a bid to host the 2034 Games, the French bid for the 2030 Games moved forward at the expense of two other candidates, Sweden and Switzerland.
Karl Stoss, president of the Future Host Commission for the Winter Olympics at the IOC, told the press that Switzerland will now begin a “privileged dialogue” for the 2038 Winter Olympics.
