Sweden moves closer to launching bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics

Sweden is moving closer to a bid to host the Winter Olympics for the first time in what is shaping up to be a race for the 2030 Games with only one obvious candidate.

Following a four-month feasibility study, Swedish sports officials said Thursday there is a desire for the Nordic country to stage the Olympics in Stockholm. It will be the ninth Winter Olympic bid for the country that hosted the Summer Olympics in 1912.

"Our preliminary study shows that Sweden has the opportunity, know-how and will to arrange the Winter Games in 2030," Swedish Olympic Committee president Hans von Uthmann said.

Von Uthmann said there will now be a "dialogue phase" with the International Olympic Committee as the second stage of the bid process.

"The IOC has welcomed us to the next phase," he said.

The hosting rights have looked to be there for the taking for Sweden since its surprise entry in the 2030 picture this year as the IOC's other options fell away.

Sapporo was among the favourites but support in Japan faded during the investigation, trials and convictions related to bribery in commercial deals for the Tokyo Olympics.

This week, the Japanese Olympic Committee said it would support a Sapporo bid only if it was pushed back to target the 2034 Winter Games.

Salt Lake City, a previous Olympic host city like Sapporo, also wants to host again but prefers 2034. That would avoid a back-to-back clash for organizers and sponsors in the United States with the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games.

Sweden suddenly found a clear and unexpected path to hosting the 2030 Olympics four years after the IOC inflicted a bruising loss on a Stockholm-Are bid for the 2026 Games, which were awarded to Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Further progress for the Stockholm bid