France submits 2030 Winter Olympic, Paralympic bid to IOC

France officially joined the bidding race for the right to host the 2030 Winter Olympic Games on Tuesday, with the result expected to be announced in July next year by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

France is a three-time host of the Winter Olympic Games, having staged the global quadrennial sporting event at Chamonix in 1924, Grenoble in 1968 and Albertville in 1992. According to the head of France's Olympic Committee, David Lappartient, and the Alpine regional president, Renaud Muselier, 95 percent of the proposed venues are existing sites. The city of Nice will host the Olympic Village, media center and indoor skating events. Meanwhile, Isola 2000, a ski resort near Nice, will host the snowboarding events. Another ski resort, Meribel-Courchevel, will host the Alpine skiing events, while Grand-Bornand is expected to stage the Nordic events.

France will strive to stay within a proposed budget of 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion), according to Lappartient. "As with Paris, we are seeking a durable legacy on viable economic terms to reflect the changing world," he said.

Switzerland and Sweden have both declared themselves candidates for the 2030 Winter Games earlier this year. Meanwhile, Salt Lake City in the U.S. is leaning toward bidding to host the 2034 edition, as the city of Los Angeles is already hosting the 2028 Summer Games.

The IOC approved a double allocation for the Winter Games last month during their 141st Session in Mumbai. Accordingly, the hosts of the 2030 and 2034 Winter Games will be announced at their annual session next year in Paris, days before the opening of the Paris Summer Olympics. The IOC had announced two hosts at the same time once before, when it decided that the 2024 and 2028 Summer Games would be staged in Paris and Los Angeles, respectively, in 2017.