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What we know so far about France's 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympics

Emma Pearson
Emma Pearson - emma.pearson@thelocal.com
What we know so far about France's 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympics
Edgar Grospiron, Chair of the French Alps 2030 Organising Committee, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region president Renaud Muselier and France's Sports Minister Marina Ferrari ring a bell before boarding The 'Alpes Express' train for Briançon, in Marseille, south-eastern France on June 18, 2026, ahead of a ceremony to unveil the emblems for the French Alps 2030 Winter Olympic Games. Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFP

If you're still pining for the heady days of the Paris Olympics, there is some good news - France is hosting again in 2030, this time for winter sports. Here's what you need to know about the next French Games.

Paris 2024 was, by common consensus, a very good Olympics - sporting excellence in a stunning setting with an incredible atmosphere and some very cheeky mascots.

So can France recreate this on a snowy scale? Well, it's going to try since the 2030 Winter Olympics will also be hosted here.

Here's what we know so far.

When - the Winter Olympics will be held between February 1st and 17th, 2030, with the Winter Paralympics following between March 1st and 10th.

They will mark the seventh time France has hosted; 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville and most recently the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

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Where - like the most recent Winter Games in Milan-Cortina, the 2030 Games will be split over several sites, with ski events held in the mountains and ice-skating and ice-hockey in the city.

The original plan was to use Nice for the city sports, but the election in March 2026 of the right-winger Eric Ciotti as mayor of Nice threw a spanner into the works as he was a committed opponent of the plan to upgrade local facilities for use during the Games. The organising committee therefore took the decision to move the city events to Lyon.

As it was with Paris, the emphasis is on using existing facilities rather than building new venues - and many of the ski events will use facilities originally built when France hosted the Winter Olympics in Albertville back in 1992.

Although the full list of event venues is yet to be finalised, the plan is to use ski resorts including La Clusaz, La Plagne, Val d'Isère, Courchevel and Montgenèvre to host events such as downhill and slalom skiing, biathlon, snowboarding and ski jumps.

Meanwhile, Lyon is set to host events including figure skating and ice hockey at three existing venues: the LDLC Arena, the Parc des expositions and the Halle Tony-Garnier concert venue. City ice rinks will also be used as practice venues.

Speed skating is scheduled to be held in Heerenveen in the Netherlands, since France does not have a suitable track.

Proposed competition venues for the 2030 Winter Olympics

Proposed competition venues for the 2030 Winter Olympics. Map: IOC

The Paralympics will be held in La Clusaz and Courchevel, plus the Lyon venues.

There will also be five athletes' villages, to minimise travel times to competition sites for athletes - in Briançon, Haute-Savoie, two in Savoie and one in the Lyon suburb of Oullins-Pierre-Bénite.

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Despite its varied locations, the official name for the Games is 'Alpes 2030'.

The location for the opening and closing ceremonies is yet to be decided.

What sports - the core Winter Olympic programme of biathlon, bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, luge, skating, and skiing remain, but there will also be some new additions for 2030.

Ski mountaineering returns after a successful debut in Milan-Cortina, while extra categories have been added to the freestyle skiing and snowboarding events.

Will there be any snow by 2030? - Climate change is a major concern for the Winter Olympics, with all Alpine ski resorts reportedly experiencing steadily declining levels of snow.

The events are all scheduled to be hosted at high-altitude resorts which, at present, can still guarantee snow in February. Whether that's still the case in 2030 remains to be seen, but the organisers seem confident.

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The bid places a strong emphasis on climate - using existing facilities, limiting travel times between venues and using renewable energy and facilities.

The climate is not the only worry, as the organising committee has been plagued with infighting and several high-profile departures.

Tickets, volunteers - it's a bit too soon to be booking tickets, they usually go on sale around a year in advance. The Games will almost certainly once more have a volunteering project, but at present there are no details of how you can become a volunteer - in Paris, details became available around two years in advance.

Will it be as cool as Paris 2024?  At the moment most of the headlines about the bid seem to be about yet another argument/resignation on the organising committee, but it's not unusual for media coverage of big events to be mostly negative until a bit nearer the time.

The committee is borrowing many things from Paris 2024, including the firm commitment to keeping the Games as carbon neutral as possible and is using entirely existing facilities, albeit with upgrades and renovation for some. All venues will be accessible by public transport.

It will also be the first Winter Olympics with gender parity (yes, that apparently has never happened before) - some 3,046 athletes, 1,525 female and 1,521 male, are set to compete across 126 events - 56 for women, 55 for men and 15 mixed.

The design of the mascot has not yet been unveiled, so we cannot judge how it will compare with the unforgettable 'phryges', but the logo is here, and it seems quite classic - a stylised mountain peak which apparently represents "the promise of clarity, warmth and renewal" and the "convergence" of nations at its summit.

Logo for the 2030 Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics

Logo for the 2030 Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics. Image: Alpes 2023
 
France Télévisions has secured the rights, so the Games will be shown on free-to-air TV channels in France. 

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