| Tromsoe
Bids for
1st Arctic Olympics
Gamesbid.com
Posted May 15, 2003
 According
to several published reports, the Arctic city of Tromsoe Norway
is planning to apply to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
Should it succeed, it would be the closest Olympic Games to
the North Pole.
But
Tromsoe may have to compete against Lillehammer, site of the
1994 Winter Games, for Norway's 2014 bid. The city wants to
apply for the Games on the 200th anniversary of the drafting
of Norway’s constitution.
Tromsoe
is a city of about 60,000 people located around 400 kilometres
(250 miles) north of the Arctic Circle.
The
sun stays below the horizon for about two months in mid-winter,
first rising in the city on January 21. By the time the Olympics
would take place in February the sun will have been above
the horizon for several hours.
Tromsoe’s
Mayor Herman Kristoffersen said, “I want to strongly
emphasize the possibilities that lie in holding an Olympics
north of the Arctic Circle, where mountains meet the sea”.
Tromsoe
city council said in a statement, “work to launch Tromsoe’s
Olympic candidacy is starting … the first Olympic Games
in the Arctic”.
Tromsoe
officials call their bid “a unique project with enormous
significance for Norway”. Both the Mayor and City Manager
believe their bid is realistic, and they are looking for financial
support for it from state agencies and athletic groups.
Meanwhile
Norway’s Olympic Committee said it hadn’t yet considered
Tromsoe’s proposal. Committee spokesman Halvor Lea said,
“I would say it is an exciting thought”.
But
he noted that Lillehammer already has most of the venues needed
after hosting the 1994 Games while Tromsoe has none.
Gamesbid.com
-
Back to News Home -
|