Bern to submit fresh bid to host 2010 Winter Olympics

The Bern-Montreux Olympic team are pushing a revamped project Keystone

The Swiss cities of Bern and Montreux have prepared a new joint bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympics, after the Swiss Olympic Association threw out their previous attempt, saying it was not up to scratch.

Unveiling the new bid on Thursday, the organisers said they had refined their previous attempt to win the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The key change concerns the number of sites where the games would take place. These have been reduced to nine locations in five cantons.

The Swiss Olympic Association had criticised the previous bid, saying the proposed sites for the games were too far apart, and therefore stood little chance of winning the approval of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The bid had envisaged holding the games at 15 locations spread out across seven cantons.

The sites that were scrapped, among them Lucerne, Engelberg, Meiringen and Grindelwald were judged by the organisers to be unable to host sporting events on such a large scale.

The new bid will be centred around Bern, Montreux and Valais, although some events – such as bobsleigh and toboggan competitions – are planned for St Moritz, which is located on the other side of the country.

Bern will host the ice hockey, curling and speed skating events. It will also be the venue for opening and closing ceremonies.

The organisers have until June 30 to present their new bid. They are up against a rival campaign based in Davos, which is hoping to stage the Games across the three cantons of Zurich, Graubünden and Schwyz.

It’s been over 50 years since Switzerland last hosted the games. The IOC will name the host of the next Winter Olympics in 2003.

swissinfo with agencies