Kamloops and Sun Peaks have been selected by the Canadian Olympic Committee to be part of Canada’s bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics.
The joint bid with Vancouver and Whistler would see non-alpine skiing events like snowboarding, moguls, and freestyle that were held at Cypress Mountain in 2010, moved to Sun Peaks in 2030, with Kamloops hotels serving as accommodation for media and volunteers.
Some details of the bid were confirmed to NL News by people who are directly involved in discussions, but not yet authorized to speak publicly about it.
Speaking on the NL Morning News, Kamloops Mayor Ken Christian hinted of an announcement to come next month.
“I can’t tell you anything about that potential until perhaps mid-June. But I can tell you this: Myself and council are always looking for ways in which we can enhance and promote the Tournament Capital brand in Kamloops for the betterment of our citizens and businesses in Kamloops,” Christian said.
“We’ll have more to say on that in June.”
Sun Peaks Mayor Al Raine told NL News the assessment process has been in the works for the past six to eight months.
“[The 2030 Olympic Bid Committee] came and looked at the technical requirements, put technical people in to assess the potential here in Sun Peaks and we kind of cooperated and assisted them,” he said.
“The events that are proposed would be on Morrisey Mountain. There would have to be some clearing of the runs for some of the events, and we would have to figure out exactly how an Olympic Village would work for those athletes.”
However, Raine says details on accommodation, transportation, and medal ceremonies have not yet been worked out.
Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir told NL News she is excited for more details about the Olympic bid to be released mid-June.
“I know we are the transportation highway and I know that we are looking forward to welcoming the guests that come throughout our community and we are going to be so excited to know that so many are going to be travelling here and participating, in many of those winter events,” Casimir said.
Casimir believes hosting the 2030 Winter Games in the Kamloops-area will have a positive impact on the economy in the region.
“There’s going to be a lot of spinoff to local economy as well, whether that’s going to be here directly on our TteS reserve lands because we have many businesses here, we know it will be an uptick here,” she added.
Casimir believes having Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members working towards the unified goal as a host city, would take meaningful steps forward in reconciliation.
“Most importantly its about inclusion, that we are supporting each other but we are also sharing in the building of our relationships,” she said.
“We are supportive of any kind of sporting activity or any kind of major activity that is going to draw on the showcasing of all our collaborative efforts of working together to be apart of something so big and amazing.”
Meanwhile, the Canadian Olympic Committee Feasibility Team is remaining coy on details until next month.
“Working under the leadership of the Lil’wat, Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, consultation on the project is ongoing and we look forward to sharing the Games Concept Plan that is being proposed to all levels of government with the public on June 14,” the COC Feasibility Team said, in a statement.
“We have engaged with many potential venue operators throughout British Columbia during the initial phase of this Indigenous-led process as we fully assess with all partners the feasibility of bringing the Games back to the Province and look forward to sharing more details with you in mid-June.”
Two previous winter Olympic venues in Salt Lake City in Utah (2002), and Sapporo in Japan (1972), are also in the running to host these games.
The International Olympic Committee will be making a decision on what country lands the 2030 winter games sometime next year.
–With files from Abby Zieverink, Paul James, Jeff Andreas, and Victor Kaisar
