Catriona Le May Doan: IOC rules help potential Calgary Olympic bid
Posted Jan 12, 2017 2:04 pm.
Last Updated Jan 12, 2017 2:27 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Calgary would not have to spend like Sochi in order to host the Olympic Winter Games again in 2026.
That’s the message from Catriona Le May Doan, who won three Olympic medals in speed skating. She says the International Olympic Committee has relaxed the standards for venues and facilities to encourage more cities to bid.
That would allow Calgary to use many of the same venues and facilities from the 1988 games.
“The IOC has changed some of their prerequisites for facilities, where beforehand they had a certain standard,” Le May Doan said. “They understand that with the cost, cities weren’t bidding.”
Le May Doan said Calgary would not face a bill anything close to what Sochi, Russia reportedly spent to host the 2014 edition. It’s estimated Russia shelled out more than $51 billion (US) for the Olympics and infrastructure.
“But, I would only support it in this city if it made financial sense,” Le May Doan said. “I’m raising my kids in this city, so if it didn’t make financial sense I wouldn’t want that to happen, because I don’t want to set this city up for failure.”
Le May Doan is one of 17 members of the Calgary Bid Exploration Committee that will recommend whether the city should pursue the 2026 Olympics.
A final decision whether to submit a formal bid rests with Calgary city council.
