Officials in the Norwegian capital have outlined the city’s plans to present a compelling bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. According to a report published by Around the Rings on Thursday 7 March, Norway will need to spend up to NOK 20 billion (EUR 2.69 billion) to prepare Oslo for the event whilst making use of older facilities built for the 1994 games in Lillehammer.
However, a number of new facilities would be built on the east side of the capital, allowing for the city’s committee to partially retain its original plans for an urban-centred Olympics.
Norwegian Olympic Committee head Stian Berger Røsland said via the organisation’s website, “We consider this the most robust and realistic option. Lillehammer still has a good reputation internationally from the Olympics in 1994, and we are also keen to take advantage of the work and the skills that will come out of the Youth Olympic Games to be held in Lillehammer in 2016,” Around the Rings reports.
An official application for the Winter Games to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) bid must now gain official approval from the Olso City Council, which is set to take on the matter in the spring, whilst a referendum is set for September.
