{"id":15004,"date":"2026-02-21T15:30:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T15:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/15004\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T15:30:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T15:30:18","slug":"next-winter-olympics-organizers-in-french-alps-deal-with-turmoil-before-handover-from-milan-cortina-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/15004\/","title":{"rendered":"Next Winter Olympics organizers in French Alps deal with turmoil before handover from Milan Cortina"},"content":{"rendered":"

MILAN (AP) \u2014 We\u2019ve got this. Really, we do.<\/p>\n

Organizers of the 2030 French Alps Olympics worked Saturday to put a positive sheen on their project that already was on the tightest of hosting schedules before being rocked by inner turmoil.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re confident in our capacity to deliver these games in 2030 with a high degree of excellence,\u201d said Edgar Grospiron, the former Olympic champion freestyle skier who leads the organizing committee.<\/p>\n

The French Alps is officially next up on Sunday evening after a formal handover of the Olympic flag to its sports and public officials at the Milan Cortina Winter Games closing ceremony, being staged in Verona.<\/p>\n

Hours earlier, the French organizing committee holds a board meeting amid tension between Grospiron and his director general, Cyril Linette, who is set to be the latest executive exit from a team launched just one year ago.<\/p>\n

Grospiron acknowledged the \u201cturbulence\u201d Saturday at the traditional Olympic news conference for the next games host.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor these games to be successful we do need stability, serenity, continuity and the organizing committee needs this,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want to show the whole world, but also particularly the French, and I am sure that they will really see the worth of what we\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n

The French Alps Winter Games \u2014 with speed skating destined to go abroad, at Turin, Italy, or Heerenveen in the Netherlands, where venues already exist \u2014 has always been on the tightest timeline of any modern Olympics.<\/p>\n

The outline of a bid came together only in 2023. At the time, the International Olympic Committee was in talks with Swedish officials who had revived the Stockholm proposal that lost a hosting vote in 2019 against the Italian bid for these Winter Games that close Sunday.<\/p>\n

Riding enthusiasm of preparations for the 2024 Paris Summer Games, from local Olympic officials and President Emmanuel Macron \u2014 whose term in office expires next year \u2014 the IOC and its then-leader Thomas Bach pivoted to France again. It left a bitter taste in Sweden.<\/p>\n

IOC members confirmed the French Alps win in Paris at their eve-of-games meeting, giving the project just 5\u00bd years to prepare.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know, obviously, that there is little time,\u201d Grospiron said. \u201cNot just the time but the budget is tight. But we know we can do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like the Milan Cortina Olympics, the French Alps has a split between snow sports in storied mountain resorts and skating in a snow-free city, the French Riviera resort Nice.<\/p>\n

The final plan of venues, now including Alpine ski resort Val d\u2019Isere, will be confirmed in June when the IOC decides the list of sports and events.<\/p>\n

Until then, a top official from the hugely successful Paris Olympics, \u00c9tienne Thobois, is helping stabilize the French Alps team. The expertise gained at Paris shapes to be key for the next Winter Games.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat also gives us the chance to go quickly,\u201d Grospiron said, \u201cand have this rhythm that is ours and be ready on time.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n \"FILE<\/p>\n

FILE – IOC president Thomas Bach, right, shakes hands to French President Emmanuel Macron after Bach announced that the French Alps was named as the 2030 Winter Games host at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 24, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo\/David Goldman, File)<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n


\n \"FILE<\/p>\n

FILE – Head of 2030 Olympic Winter Games, Edgar Grospiron, delivers a speech during a press conference to launch the organizing committee for the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, in Decines, outside Lyon, France, Feb. 18, 2025. (AP Photo\/Laurent Cipriani, File)<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

BORMIO, Italy (AP) \u2014 Once Thibault Anselmet reached the top of the last climb, he began to raise his hand.<\/p>\n

Because a gold medal was simply all downhill from there.<\/p>\n

Emily Harrop and Anselmet jumped out to a lead and never looked back in combining to win the mixed relay for France on Saturday as part of ski mountaineering’s Olympic debut at the Milan Cortina Games.<\/p>\n

Each athlete completed two laps, tagging the other after every loop. Harrop and Anselmet finished the Stelvio course in a time of 26 minutes, 57.44 seconds, holding off the Swiss team of Marianne Fatton and Jon Kistler by 11.86 seconds. Spanish racers Ana Alonso Rodriguez and Oriol Cardona Coll captured the bronze.<\/p>\n

Ski mountaineering, which is called \u201cskimo\u201d for short, was voted into the Olympic program in 2021. The individual sprint races crowned the sport’s first Olympic champions \u2014 Fatton and Cardona Coll \u2014 on Thursday with the falling snow adding another element to the historic day.<\/p>\n

Harrop grabbed the early lead on the first lap and the French kept pushing the lung-searing pace. So confident was Anselmet that he started celebrating well before the finish line \u2014 at the top of the course, a mini-celebration, and midway down the descent, an arms-raised celebration. Of course, at the finish, a true celebration.<\/p>\n

American racers Anna Gibson and Cameron Smith took fourth.<\/p>\n

It was a different course setup than the sprint race, with an extra ascent and descent adding to the already difficult challenge. The mixed teams alternated between female and male racers over four laps. The course length was listed as 1,410 meters (4,626 feet) with the total ascent around 137 meters (450 feet). <\/p>\n

The racers started on an ascent before a descent into the transition zone. They put on their \u201cskins\u201d \u2014 a piece of fabric on the bottom of the skis for better uphill traction \u2014 as they navigated a diamond-shaped pattern that led them to a set of stairs. They stowed their skis on their backs and ran up the steps in ski boots. Then they put their skis back on and scaled another uphill climb before taking the skins off again and flying downhill. <\/p>\n

Once they reached the \u201chandover\u201d zone, they tagged their partner to begin another lap. Fatton cut the lead heading into the final lap but Anselmet found another gear to restore the advantage.<\/p>\n

AP Olympics: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics<\/p>\n


\n \"France's<\/p>\n

France’s Thibault Anselmet celebrates winning a gold medal in a ski mountaineering mixed relay, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gabriele Facciotti)<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n


\n \"France's<\/p>\n

France’s Emily Harrop, left, and France’s Thibault Anselmet celebrate winning gold in a ski mountaineering mixed relay, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo\/Gabriele Facciotti)<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n


\n \"Italy's<\/p>\n

Italy’s Alba de Silvestro, left, is followed by Austria’s Johanna Hiemer, during a ski mountaineering mixed relay, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo\/Rebecca Blackwell)<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n


\n \"France's<\/p>\n

France’s Emily Harrop competes during a ski mountaineering mixed relay, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo\/Rebecca Blackwell)<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n


\n \"France's<\/p>\n

France’s Emily Harrop, foreground, leads the group during a ski mountaineering mixed relay, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026.(AP Photo\/Rebecca Blackwell)<\/p>\n

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