A total of seven bids were initially submitted for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Four of the bids were subsequently withdrawn after entering the candidature stage, leaving Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy and Stockholm–Åre, Sweden as the only two remaining candidate bids. Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo was elected as the host city at the 134th IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 24 June 2019.
Bidding process
The IOC Executive Board met in Lausanne to discuss the 2026 bidding process on 9 June 2017; and a new approach was approved at the Extraordinary IOC Session on 11–12 July 2017. The IOC will take a more proactive role in assisting and supporting cities considering a candidature for the 2026 Olympics, and will customise its approach to the needs of the cities in order for them to develop the best value proposition. These measures will lead to a simplified process for the cities, with reduced costs. The Invitation Phase has been extended to one year, starting 13 September 2017, and the Candidature Phase has been shortened to one year, starting from 2018 to 2019. These measures were enacted due to a lack of interest in bidding for the 2026 Games well into 2017.
Dialogue stage
Launch of dialogue stage (29 September 2017) Joint briefing through video conference (13 October 2017) Signing of candidature cooperation agreement (Before scheduling first IOC expert support visits or interactive working session) Customised on-site expert support visits (November 2017 – April 2018) On-site interactive working session 1: Presentation and discussion of initial Games concept (25 November – 15 December 2017) Observer programme at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea (9–23 February 2018) Deadline for cities to enter the candidature process by joining dialogue stage (31 March 2018) On-site interactive working session 2: Presentation of consolidated Games concept after consultation with IOC technical experts (May 2018) Official debrief between PyeongChang Organising Committee and Beijing Organising Committee (June 2018) Provision of host city contract (July 2018) IOC Working Group Report submitted to IOC Executive Board (September 2018) IOC Executive Board to recommend to the IOC Session cities to invite to the candidature stage (October 2018) IOC Session to invite a number of interested cities to take part in the candidature stage (October 2018)
Candidature stage
Deadline for the submission of the Candidature File but without core guarantees by the candidate cities (11 January 2019) IOC expert pre-visits (February 2019) IOC Evaluation Commission analysis including a visit to each candidate city and requests for submission of any additional information or guarantees (March/April 2019) Stockholm–Åre 2026 (12–16 March 2019) Milan–Cortina 2026 (2–6 April 2019) Deadline for the submission of the complete Guarantee File (12 April 2019) Final Q&A session with the Evaluation Commission via individual video conference (May 2019) Publication of the Evaluation Commission Report on www.olympic.org (May 2019) Candidate cities' right of response following publication of the Evaluation Commission Report (June 2019) Candidate City Briefing 2026 for IOC Members and International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (June 2019) Candidate cities present to IOC Session in Lausanne, followed by election of the Host City 2026 (24 June 2019) Individual debriefing with each NOC / candidate city (6–9 months after the election)
IOC's 2026 Evaluation Commission
In October 2018, the IOC appointed the following members and stakeholder representatives to the Evaluation Commission that will assess the candidate cities for the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Octavian Morariu: Chair Kristin Kloster Aasen: IOC member Zhang Hong: IOC member Roman Kumpost: Stakeholder representative Heike Größwang: Stakeholder representative Marianna Davis: Stakeholder representative Lee Hee-beom: Stakeholder representative José Luis Marco: Stakeholder representative
Milan–Cortina d'Ampezzo was selected as host city of the 2026 Winter Olympics after beating Stockholm–Åre by 13 votes on 24 June 2019 at the 134th IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland. The host city was originally due to be selected on 11 September 2019, at the 134th IOC Session in Milan; however, IOC rules required that the election be moved to a different location after Italy submitted a bid for the 2026 Games that included the city.
Final selection process
The IOC voted to select the host city of the 2026 Winter Olympics on 24 June 2019 at the 134th IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland.