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[NOTES on a SCORECARD] For Sapporo, It's Now or Never for an Olympic Bid

With lingering animosity toward the domestic Olympic movement over Tokyo 2020 scandals, there could actually be less support for a Sapporo bid down the line.

Published

1 year ago

July 8, 2023

Jack Gallagher

Posters of Olympic athletes are displayed in an underground mall in Sapporo in February 2022. (KYODO)

Read the full story on SportsLook - [NOTES on a SCORECARD] For Sapporo, It's Now or Never for an Olympic Bid

Confusion continues to reign for the 2030 Sapporo Olympic bid after the Japanese Olympic Committee essentially withdrew its support for the endeavor recently. The lingering animosity toward the domestic Olympic movement over the scandals relating to the Tokyo 2020 Games was cited as the main reason by the JOC.

But this doesn't make sense to me. The JOC is essentially encouraging Sapporo to bid for a later Winter Games, likely in 2034 or 2038. It uses the logic that "support" for a bid will increase after the passage of time.

This philosophy is almost comical. In other words, the belief that after a few years the smell of the Tokyo 2020 scandals will have subsided and suddenly public support for a Sapporo bid might increase sounds like fantasy.

The view here is that this is a strange strategy. Furthermore, the way things are going, there could actually be less support for a Sapporo bid down the line.

I have lived in Japan for a long time, but have never understood this belief that delaying a decision will produce a viable solution in the end. For example, Sapporo was initially interested in being the host of the 2026 Olympics (which will be staged by Cortina/Milan in Italy). But it panicked and withdrew its bid after an earthquake in September 2018.

With eight years still to go, Sapporo bowed out and the final two bidders became Cortina/Milan and Stockholm. The Italian bid won 47-37 in the voting by IOC members in June 2019.

This time around another deferral makes no sense, as giants like Salt Lake City and Vancouver, both recent previous hosts of the Winter Olympics, have interest in bidding to host in 2034 or 2038. If Sapporo thinks it is going to win against those heavyweights, it can forget it.

*Japanese Olympic Committee President Yasuhiro Yamashita (KYODO)*

Yamashita Has Doubts About a Sapporo Bid

Following his reelection to a third term as JOC president on June 29, Yasuhiro Yamashita expressed a negative view on Sapporo hosting in 2030. This was despite results of a poll released a week earlier by Central Research Service showing that more than 60% of respondents in the country supported a bid by the northern city.

"Under the current circumstances, 2030 will be quite hard," Yamashita was quoted as saying by Kyodo News. "The International Olympic Committee highly regards Japan's ability to manage sporting events but attaches great importance to the approval rating of each host candidate."

Continue reading the full story, which also includes commentary on Rui Hachimura, Shohei Ohtani and Formula One's Japanese Grand Prix, on SportsLook.

Author: Jack Gallagher

The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on Twitter @sportsjapan.