2030 Winter Olympics
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Get ready for an alpine spectacle! The XXVI Olympic Winter Games, branded as French Alps 2030, are set to ignite the winter sports world from February 1st to 17th, 2030. This grand event will unfold across the breathtaking French Alps, a region synonymous with winter excellence.
The journey to these Games has been a pioneering one, embracing a new IOC bid process designed for greater flexibility and engagement. On November 29th, 2023, the French Alps emerged as the preferred candidate, a testament to their compelling vision. This choice was officially ratified by the 142nd IOC Session in Paris on July 24th, 2024.
The action will span across the departments of Alpes-Maritimes and Hautes-Alpes in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, with Nice proudly hosting all but one of the thrilling ice events. Adding to the excitement, the departments of Haute-Savoie and Savoie in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes will also play host.
The innovative IOC bidding process, approved in Lausanne in June 2019, emphasizes continuous dialogue and targeted engagement with potential hosts. This new approach allows for greater collaboration and ensures a more sustainable future for the Olympic Games.
The selection process saw the IOC Executive Board invite the French National Olympic and Sports Committee to targeted dialogue, proposing the French Alps as the ideal location. Their conditional ratification on July 24th, 2024, was a significant milestone, a referendum-style vote by 95 IOC delegates. The final confirmation hinged on securing financial guarantees by October 2024, a crucial step made possible by the French government's unwavering support, despite political shifts.
Climate change is a central focus in the planning of these Games, influencing decisions to ensure a sustainable and successful Winter Olympics. The estimated budget for French Alps 2030 stands at a significant $2.3 billion, reflecting the scale and ambition of this event.
The venues are being meticulously planned across clusters in Nice, Briançon, Haute-Savoie, and Savoie. The Promenade des Anglais in Nice is slated to host the closing ceremony, while discussions continue regarding the opening ceremony, with the Metropolis of Lyon being a potential candidate. The organizing committee's headquarters are based at Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Décines-Charpieu.
The quest for a suitable venue for long-track speed skating highlights the committee's commitment to "reinventing the Games," exploring options from renovating existing facilities to utilizing venues in Italy or the Netherlands.
The sports program, approved at the 142nd IOC Session, includes biathlon, bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, luge, skating, and skiing. The specific disciplines will be finalized in late 2025. Exciting discussions are underway for the potential inclusion of new sports, such as 3x3 ice hockey, cyclo-cross, and cross-country running, bringing fresh energy and new opportunities for athletes. Ice climbing is also being considered, with potential venues already identified.
Broadcasting rights in France are secured by Warner Bros. Discovery via Eurosport for pay television and streaming, and by France Télévisions for free-to-air coverage. The IOC has also renewed its European broadcast rights agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery, ensuring extensive coverage across the continent from 2026 to 2032.
Prepare for an unforgettable celebration of sport, unity, and alpine beauty at the French Alps 2030 Winter Olympics!
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The 2030 Winter Olympics (French: Jeux olympiques d'hiver de 2030), officially known as the XXVI Olympic Winter Games (French: XXVIes Jeux Olympiques d'hiver) and branded as French Alps 2030 (French: Alpes Françaises 2030), is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 1 to 17 February 2030 in the French Alps region of France.
As part of the new Olympic bid process, the Future Host Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) nominated the French Alps as its preferred candidate on 29 November 2023. The French Alps' bid was approved during the 142nd IOC Session in Paris on 24 July 2024.
Events will be held across the departments of Alpes-Maritimes and Hautes-Alpes in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (with the prefecture of Nice hosting all but one of the ice events), and the departments of Haute-Savoie and Savoie in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
== Bidding process ==
The new IOC bidding process was approved at the 134th IOC Session on 24 June 2019 in Lausanne, Switzerland. The key proposals, driven by the relevant recommendations from Olympic Agenda 2020, are:
Establish a permanent, ongoing dialogue to explore and create interest among cities/regions/countries and National Olympic Committees for any Olympic event
Create two Future Host Commissions (Summer and Winter Games) to oversee interest in future Olympic events and report to the IOC executive board
Give the IOC Session more influence by having non-executive board members form part of the Future Host Commissions.
The IOC also modified the Olympic Charter to increase its flexibility in choosing hosts by making the date of elections more flexible and allowing multiple cities, regions, or countries to host instead of only single cities, regions or countries.
According to the Future Host Commission's rules of conduct, the new IOC bidding system is divided into two dialogue stages:
Continuous dialogue involving non-committal discussions between the IOC and interested parties (City/Region/Country/NOC interested in hosting) with regard to hosting future Olympic events.
Targeted dialogue with one or more interested parties—called preferred host(s)—as instructed by the IOC Executive Board. This follows a recommendation by the Future Host Commission as a result of continuous dialogue.
=== Host selection ===
On 29 November 2023, per the recommendation of the Future Host Commission, the IOC Executive Board invited the French National Olympic and Sports Committee to targeted dialogue proposing that the 2030 Winter Olympics be held in the French Alps.
The French Alps were conditionally ratified as hosts during the 142nd IOC Session on 24 July 2024 in Paris, France; as per the new bid process, the vote was in the form of a referendum to the 95 IOC delegates. The decision to award the Games was made under the condition that financial guarantees from federal and state governments be secured by October 2024; usually, these are secured as part of the bid process, but this was hindered by the French political crisis and 2024 French legislative elections.
In October 2024, then-prime minister Michel Barnier sent a letter to IOC president Thomas Bach to confirm the French government's financial support.
== Development and preparations ==
The impacts of climate change have become a central focus of the International Olympic Committee in planning the Winter Olympics. According to the IOC, the number of NOCs capable of hosting the Winter Olympics—which require access to snow competition venues with adequate temperature and snowfall—has declined to "practically just 10-12".
As a result of these challenges, the decision on the 2030 Winter Olympics host city was delayed until 24 July 2024 to allow the IOC more time to carefully plan the future of the Winter Olympics.
A report by the Future Host Commission for the Olympic Winter Games estimated that the Games' budget is an estimated $2.3 billion.
=== Venues ===
The venues of the Games will be split between clusters in Nice, Briançon, Haute-Savoie, and Savoie. The closing ceremony is expected to be held at the Promenade des Anglais in Nice. A venue for the opening ceremony has not yet been decided, but organising committee head Edgar Grospiron suggested in an interview with Le Monde that the ceremony may be held in the Metropolis of Lyon; the organising committee's headquarters are based at Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Décines-Charpieu. Laurent Wauquiez, president of the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, has pushed for Val-d'Isère to host events during the Games.
The only sport that does not yet have a confirmed venue is long-track speed skating; in April 2025, Grospiron told Le Figaro that it would be too expensive to build a new venue for speed skating, and explained that the organising committee was aiming to "reinvent the Games". The committee has explored various options, including renovating existing facilities in Albertville or Grenoble, or hosting the event outside of the country at either Oval Lingotto in Turin, Italy (which previously hosted long-track speed skating at the 2006 Winter Olympics, and is the closest venue outside of the host regions), or Thialf in Heerenveen, Netherlands.
==== Nice cluster ====
==== Briançon cluster ====
==== Savoie cluster ====
==== Haute-Savoie cluster ====
==== To be determined ====
== Sports ==
The International Olympic Committee approved the initial sports programme at the 142nd IOC Session: biathlon, bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, luge, skating, and skiing. The disciplines in each sport will be determined in late 2025, and is planned to be confirmed at the 145th IOC Session in Milan, Italy.
Various sanctioning bodies have announced plans to pursue bids for sports to be added to the 2030 Winter Olympics:
On 1 November 2024, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced they were preparing to bid for the inclusion of 3x3 ice hockey, which is a discipline that has been used at the Winter Youth Olympics since 2020. If selected, the sport's venue could be a new €58 million ice hockey arena being built in Chamonix.
The UCI is pursuing the addition of cyclo-cross, while World Athletics is pursuing the revival of cross country running for the first time since 1924. In June 2025, the Departmental Council of Haute-Saône suggested that La Planche des Belles Filles (which has been used as part of the Tour de France route since 2012) would be used as the site for cyclo-cross if approved. Organising committee president Michel Barnier has supported the inclusion of cyclo-cross, while World Athletics president Sebastian Coe stated that cross-country running would provide new opportunities for African athletes to win a Winter Olympic medal for the first time. The Winter Olympic Federations (WOF) voiced opposition to the two sports, arguing that they did not constitute "snow and ice sports" as required by the Olympic Charter, and that their inclusion could "dilute" the heritage and identity of the Winter Olympics; both sports are typically held in the autumn and winter months and have been contested in winter conditions.
In February 2025, it was reported that the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) was receiving calls from French athletes to pursue ice climbing for the 2030 Winter Olympics. Champagny-en-Vanoise, near Courchevel in the northern French Alps, has hosted the UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup numerous times, and the venue for it has been recently renovated to be able to host larger scale competitions.
In a February 2025 interview, organising committee head Edgar Grospiron mentioned cyclo-cross, cross-country running, ski mountaineering, speed skiing, telemark skiing and ice cross as potential new sports.
== Broadcasting rights ==
In France, pay television and streaming rights are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery via Eurosport, with free-to-air coverage owned by France Télévisions under a sublicense agreement with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). On 16 January 2023, the IOC announced that it had renewed its European broadcast rights agreement with Warner Bros. Discovery. The agreement, covering from 2026 to 2032, includes pay television and streaming rights to the Summer, Winter, and Youth Olympics on Eurosport and Discovery+ in 49 European territories. Free-to-air rights packages were concurrently awarded to the EBU and its members to cover at least 100 hours of each Winter Olympics, with EBU member France Télévisions agreeing to broadcast the Games in France.
== See also ==
2030 Winter Paralympics
Olympic Games held in France
1900 Summer Olympics – Paris
1924 Summer Olympics – Paris
1924 Winter Olympics – Chamonix
1968 Winter Olympics – Grenoble
1992 Winter Olympics – Albertville
2024 Summer Olympics – Paris
2030 Winter Olympics – French Alps
List of IOC country codes
== References ==
== External links ==
Official website alpes2030.org (English version)
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