French Alps 2030 Organizing Committee Created

Edgar Grospiron, a freestyle skiing gold medalist in 1992 when France last hosted the Olympic Winter Games, will be the president of the newly-formed organizing committee for the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

The organizing committee was officially formed on Tuesday following its inaugural General Assembly meeting in Lyon Stadium, a few days after the 2034 Games organizers in Salt Lake City unveiled its organizing committee and laying stark the challenges the French group faces with just under five years before its Opening Ceremony.

The French plan spreads across four hubs around the Alps near previous Winter Games hosts Chamonix (1924), Grenoble (1968) and Albertville (1992). Nice, on the French Riviera, would host ice hockey, curling, figure skating, short track speedskating plus the Closing Ceremony. The main mountain cluster of events would be in the Savoie Zone with alpine skiing, ski jumping and sliding sports on its overall list. It also said that long-track speedskating would be held at an existing oval somewhere in Europe.

Grospiron after winning Olympic gold went on to be appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Annecy 2018 candidature team for the Olympic Winter Games and was a member of the IOC Coordination Commission for PyeongChang 2018.

“Our ambition is equal to the challenge that awaits us: to make these Games an unforgettable, people-oriented sports festival, rooted in excellence, irreproachable in environmental terms and surprising in terms of legacy,” he said.

The French bid was organized in short order in 2023 before being voted as host by the International Olympic Committee in July at its annual session in Paris on the eve of a hugely successful Summer Games. With the approval came a special exemption to wait several months for guarantees from the national government.

“The appointment of Edgar Grospiron as OCOG President gives us full confidence in the project based on his background as an Olympic champion combined with his experience in sports leadership,” IOC President Thomas Bach said.