IOC Session receives update on Privileged Dialogue with Switzerland 2038

Karl Stoss, Chair of the IOC’s Future Host Commission for the Olympic Winter Games, presented the vision and the venue masterplan of Switzerland 2038 to the 145th IOC Session in Milan and outlined the next steps in the process.

Mr Stoss reported that the Swiss project is based on a vision to strengthen national cohesion, to generate international visibility for the Swiss economy and tourism, and to leave a long-term legacy for Swiss sport and the wider population.

All proposed competition venues would be pre-existing or temporary.

In the venue masterplan, the sports are distributed as follows:

• Curling, speed skating, figure skating and short track would be in the Lausanne/Geneva cluster
• Ice hockey and Nordic sports would be in the central cluster around Lucerne, Zurich, Zug and Engelberg
• Biathlon, sliding sports, freestyle and snowboard competitions would be held around the St Moritz Cluster.
• There would be two stand-alone venues for Alpine Skiing in Crans Montana and Ice Hockey in Lugano.

The Switzerland 2038 association and Swiss Olympic have been in Privileged Dialogue with the IOC since November 2023, as the only Interested Party under consideration for the Olympic Winter Games in 2038. Privileged Dialogue is an exclusive opportunity for Switzerland until the end of 2027.

“If all requirements have been met, the IOC Executive Board could potentially open a Targeted Dialogue with Switzerland by the end of 2026,” explained Mr Stoss, who sits on various IOC commissions and is IOC Member in Austria.