Lausanne, Switzerland, December 15, 2021: The International Olympic Committee reports that the IOC President, Thomas Bach, met recently with leading Japanese officials about the prospect of Sapporo hosting the Olympic Winter Games in 2030.
“President Bach spoke with Yamashita Yasuhiro, President of the Japanese NOC and also an IOC Member, and with Hashimoto Seiko, President of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, concerning the intention of Sapporo to host the Olympic Winter Games 2030,” the IOC’s “Olympic Highlights” bulletin dated December 13 reports.
Sapporo is regarded as the home of winter sports in Japan. The capital city of Hokkaido – the northernmost of Japan’s four main islands – hosted the 11th Winter Olympics in 1972, a first for Asia.
Nagano followed Sapporo as Winter Olympics host in 1998, so if the IOC awards the 2030 edition to Sapporo it would be Japan’s third hosting of the Winter Games.
It would also mean the third Asian hosting in four Winter Olympics following PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022. The 2026 Winter Games will take place in Milan-Cortina in 2026.
Sapporo has played a major role in the development and promotion of winter sports in Asia, holding the first two Asian Winter Games in 1986 and 1990 and the eighth edition in 2017 when a record 32 NOCs took part including Australia and Oceania as guests.