Sweden could be new favourite to host 2030 Olympics with support of lawmakers, voters

Sweden emerging as the front-runner in a troubled search for a 2030 Olympics host is as much a surprise in Stockholm as elsewhere.

The year started with Sweden not on the radar of a Winter Games race where longtime favourite Sapporo faded during a criminal investigation of alleged bribery linked to the recent Tokyo Olympics. Salt Lake City is targeting 2034.

An Indigenous-led bid to bring the Games to British Columbia hit a snag in October when the province announced it would not support the endeavour. However, the bid group, which is led by the Lil̓wat7úl (Líl̓wat), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations and also includes the Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) and the municipalities of Vancouver and Whistler, has not yet conceded defeat.

The picture changed when Swedish officials met last month in Switzerland with International Olympic Committee leaders who faced uncertainty and time running out to find a 2030 host.

"We had a meeting in Lausanne in mid-January after the holidays," Swedish Olympic official Hans von Uthmann told The Associated Press on Thursday. "On our journey back we realized, `Hey, there really is an opening."'

Urging caution just one week after the Sweden Olympic Committee formally announced its interest, Von Uthmann said there is a June target to complete a feasibility study he is overseeing to reboot most of the 2026 plan.

It would certainly solve a problem for the IOC, which already postponed a decision it had wanted to make this year.

"We see clearly the window of opportunity," Von Uthmann said, though adding "obviously timing in terms of the world around us is difficult."

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