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The memories of the 1988 Winter Olympics live on in the minds of Calgarians nearly three decades after the games. The sports spectacle increased the Albertan city's presence on the world stage while fostering a lasting sense of community. Even the built facilities of the Games, which many recent Olympic hosts have struggled to find uses for, have continued to serve important functions today. Now, Calgary has the opportunity to rekindle those experiences, as councillors vote to explore a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The City of Calgary approved a recommendation by the Calgary Sport Tourism Authority on June 20 to establish a bid exploration committee that will examine the costs, benefits, and feasibility of hosting the event. Doing so will cost $5 million CAD, but given Calgary's last go at the Olympics — it was widely considered to be one of the most successful ever — it's a temptation that's hard to resist. A study commissioned for the Sport Tourism Authority shows the Games could produce 40,000 jobs and generate $3.7 billion for Alberta's economy.
Calgary has earned a reputation as a vital training ground for many future Olympians. The city has hosted over 200 national and international sporting competitions since 1988, a feat attributed to the extensive sports infrastructure built for the Games. These facilities, such as Canada Olympic Park and the Olympic Oval, are maintained by the non-profit group WinSport Canada. Canada Olympic Park has also become a popular destination for skiers, snowboarders, and mountain bikers looking for an adrenaline rush. There's tremendous opportunity for this infrastructure, which has been upgraded and expanded over the years thanks to endowment funds, to once again host Olympic events.
The International Olympic Committee has faced mounting criticism over the Games' worth. Corruption scandals, high security costs, and overblown budgets in recent years have prompted many potential contenders to withdraw from the hosting race for the 2022 Games. When Oslo dropped out, Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Beijing were the only two remaining candidates. The 2022 Winter Olympics ultimately went to Beijing, a city that will have hosted the Olympics just 14 years prior. To rekindle international interest, the IOC adopted a series of recommendations dubbed Agenda 2020 that aims to make bidding and hosting the Games a less expensive endeavour.
The IOC has shown a keen willingness to return to Calgary, going so far as to ask the Canadian Olympic Committee whether a bid will be put forward. The existence of Calgary's broad sporting infrastructure, which would inspire envy in many other cities, aligns with the IOC's renewed focus of making the Games more financially attainable. The city has until September 2017 to decide whether to launch a bid with the Canadian Olympic Committee. From there, the IOC will announce a winner in 2019. Numerous cities have expressed early interest in bidding, including Innsbruck, Dresden, Santiago, Sapporo, and Salt Lake City, host of the 2002 Winter Olympics.
The Games could be the inspiring project needed to boost the local and provincial economy, which is suffering the effects of low oil prices. It would likely bring a host of upgrades to the transit and road networks, while creating new landmarks that will foster their own legacies. Although the scale of the Olympics has expanded significantly since 1988, Calgary's proven track record of success — they held the first Winter Games to make a profit — emits an air of trustworthiness that the IOC may find difficult to pass up.
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