Key facts
- Governor
- Kathy Hochul
- Event
- Tour of Olympic Center and press conference
- Location
- Lake Placid, New York
- Earliest possible host year
- 2042
- Committee
- Lake Placid-New York City Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Exploratory Committee
- State investment in facilities
- More than $750 million
Background
Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday toured the Olympic Center in Lake Placid, holding up a torch inside the Lake Placid Olympic Museum and reinforcing her commitment to bring a third Olympics to the village. She pointed to state and local officials and members of the Lake Placid-New York City Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Exploratory Committee, a statewide effort tasked with evaluating the feasibility of a future Winter Olympic Games.
The earliest Lake Placid-New York City could host the Olympics and Paralympics would be 2042. The next two Winter Games already have chosen hosts, while the 2038 edition will likely be in Switzerland. The idea of a third Olympics returning to the village has been discussed for years but often dies down, Hochul said, adding that this movement is different.
“A lot of governors have spoken about it since 1980, but we’re the ones that are going to do something about it,” she said. The governor’s visit came a little more than a month after she announced the formation of the exploratory committee, which will spend one year discovering if hosting is possible—a deadline Hochul set.
Current situation
Brooklyn state Assemblyman Robert Carroll, a member of the committee’s leadership group and a driving force for the movement, said they have had preliminary meetings this month, including discussion before Monday’s tour. “Today, we had some meetings in person, but we've (mostly) met on Zoom so far,” he said. “We're going to meet in person, and we're going to find some time to meet in New York City. We're going to find some time to meet back up here. So there's gonna be a lot of great opportunities.”
Any feasibility report is still in the works, Carroll said. The general idea would be similar to the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games, where venues were spread across Northern Italy at a similar distance to Lake Placid to New York City. “If Milan Cortina can do it, we can do it,” Carroll said. “I think we can build on that model.”
The leading vision seems to be that most skating events would be held in New York City, with most skiing and sliding events in Lake Placid; other ORDA-owned venues could be in play, including those outside Lake Placid. Walden told the Enterprise in June that anything's on the table. “Between Gore, Belleayre and Whiteface, I think we could easily spread them out,” she said. “But there's a lot of work (to be) done before we get to that point.”
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Earliest possible host year | 2042 |
| Next two Winter Games hosts | Already chosen |
| 2038 Winter Games likely host | Switzerland |
| Skating events | New York City |
| Skiing and sliding events | Lake Placid |
| Other ORDA venues | Gore, Belleayre, Whiteface |
Impacts
Carroll said they will hopefully be able to answer some of the “bigger questions” within a year. He noted that the state has invested more than $750 million into modernizing the Lake Placid facilities—ahead of the 2023 FISU Winter World University Games—and that infrastructure already in place in New York City alleviates a major portion of the questions tasked with feasibility and sustainability of hosting another Games. This is an issue the International Olympic Committee prefers when looking at potential host sites.
“(Because of that) we can focus on the thorny issues, like housing and transportation. Not everything needs to be set in stone,” Carroll said. “I think we'll also hear from different communities, both here in the North Country and in the city, and we'll go from there. But I think that this is an opportunity that we should seize upon, because I don't think it comes around every day.”
Hochul said Lake Placid is ready for the Olympics and Paralympics—or rather to co-host them. She cited talks with athletes at Mount Van Hoevenberg and the massive events ORDA has hosted over the past few years as proof. “Well, for this already now, why can't we be ready in a few more years and get in line?” she said. “You really have to stake your claim, or else we’ll be talking 2050s.”
Future outlook
Scenario analysis: The possibilities below are not certain predictions.
As far away as 2042—or even 2046—seems, Hochul said she wants to take the time to get this right. “We (need to) figure out the housing challenges,” she said. “We (need to) figure out the infrastructure and what has to be done to the roads in this area.” But for now, exploratory means they are “just exploring” the benefits and costs of how they could make it happen; nothing is set in stone yet.
If any formal bid came about, it would need approval from the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, as well as the International Olympic Committee, which would have the final vote of approval. The IOC said in a statement to the Enterprise that it is pleased to see past Olympic cities and regions—like Lake Placid—showing interest in hosting again because of the long-term benefits the Games have brought to their communities.
“The legacy of the 1980 Olympic Winter Games cemented Lake Placid's status as one of the USA’s major winter sports capitals,” the IOC stated. If the exploratory committee concludes within a year that hosting is feasible, and if the necessary approvals are obtained, a bid for 2042 or later could proceed. If not, the idea may again fade, as it has in past decades.
Source: dailygazette.com
