MILAN (AP) — Staging the future Winter Games as early as January and the Paralympic Winter Games in February are possible because of their consequences warmer temperaturesThe International Olympic Committee reported this on Wednesday.
Every Winter Games medal has been won in February since the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics opened on January 29, and a move to January would likely disrupt the scheduling of legendary World Cup races and events. It would also clash more directly with the NFL and NBA schedules.
The IOC is now assessing Olympic Games issues in the first year of Kirsty Coventry’s presidency and changing the dates of the winter edition is an option.
“We may also be discussing holding the Winter Olympics a little earlier,” Karl Stoss, a member of the IOC who oversaw the review of the sports program, told reporters. “To do it in January, because it also has implications for the Paralympic Games.”
The Milan Cortina Paralympic Winter Games will be held from March 6 to 15.
The IOC has long recognized under Coventry’s predecessor Thomas Bach that the changing climate is a challenge for finding future hosts and organizing competitions.
“(March) is very late because the sun is strong enough to melt the snow,” said Stoss, whose home country of Austria is a traditional power in alpine skiing and ski jumping.
“Maybe the Paralympic Games will be in February and the other edition in January. That would also be part of our discussion,” he said on the sidelines of the IOC meeting on the eve of the Milan Olympics.
The more than 100 IOC members are due to meet again in June to decide on Olympic reviews, in a program called ‘Fit For The Future’, and whether new sports and events should be added to the 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps.
The French Alps edition is currently expected to take place from February 1 to 17 and the 2034 Utah Winter Games from February 10 to 26.
