IOC: The Australian Olympic Committee has congratulated Milan-Cortina after the IOC Session in Lausanne today selected the host of the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

There were two candidates that put their names forward for the Games – Stockholm–Åre, Sweden and Milan-Cortina, Italy.

The IOC Session heard supporting addresses from the Prime Ministers of both countries, IOC Members, Mayors, champion Olympians from both Sweden and Italy, while Crown Princess Victoria, the heir to the Swedish throne, also travelled to Lausanne to bolster Stockholm’s bid.

This will be the third time Italy has hosted the Winter Olympic Games – Cortina d’Ampezzo 1956 and Turin in 2006.

AOC President and IOC Member John Coates says both bids embraced the principles of Olympic Agenda 2020, the New Norm, designed to create flexibility and reduce the costs of bidding for and hosting Olympic Games.

“Both presentations demonstrated each bidder well and truly embraced the IOC’s New Norm approach to make the Olympic Games more affordable, more flexible and more sustainable.

“The use of existing venues across multiple locations, and in Stockholm’s case, another country (Latvia), was promoted by both bids. Consequently, the cost of staging the Games in 2026 is projected to be 20% cheaper than the preceding Games in Beijing (2022) and PyeongChang (2018).

“Importantly, each bid involved a unified approach from all levels of government – cities, provinces and national governments, as well as the support of community and business.

“It was clear the community support and engagement in both instances was outstanding,” Mr Coates concluded.