Davos to submit fresh bid to host 2010 Winter Olympics

Davos refuses to give up its Olympic dream swissinfo.ch

The Swiss city of Davos has prepared a new bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympics, after the Swiss Olympic Association rejected the city's previous attempt.

Unveiling their second bid on Friday, the Davos organisers said they had refined their previous attempt to win the 2010 games.

The key change concerns the number of sites where the games would take place. These have been reduced to three.

The organisers have also decided to use existing or previously planned sports infrastructures wherever possible.

But a total of SFr218 million ($131.4 million) has been set aside for the construction of new sports facilities. In addition, several temporary construction projects are planned.

According to the organisers, the requirements set by the Swiss Olympic Association “are fulfilled”. If their bid is accepted by the SOA, a cantonal referendum will be held in December.

Switzerland’s two candidatures for the 2010 Winter Olympics will be examined by the SOA at the beginning of September. The winning bid will then be submitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which will attribute the games in 2003.

Bern and Montreux have also submitted a joint bid to host the 2010 winter games. A previous proposal by the cities was rejected after SOA officials said the proposed Olympic sites were too far apart. However, the cities revised their proposal, reducing the number of sites to nine in five cantons.

The Davos candidature retained three regions for the games, including the mountain resort itself, which would host the opening and closing ceremonies, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, biathlon and speed skating. The second region, which includes Chur, Laax and Lenzerheide, would feature figure skating, short track, alpine skiing and curling.

The third region, which comprises Einsiedeln and St Moritz, would host the nordic combination, ski jumping, bobsleigh and luge.

swissinfo with agencies