Sapporo: Sapporo will halt its efforts to bring a Winter Olympics to the northern Japan city, Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto said Tuesday.

The decision comes as the International Olympic Committee has narrowed down candidate sites for hosting the Winter Olympics and Paralympics until 2034, dimming prospects for Sapporo to host the event.

Sapporo still left open the possibility of bidding for a Winter Games in the future. “This is a decision to pause” in the sense that the possibility of a future bid will be kept alive, Akimoto said at a meeting of officials involved in the city’s bidding activities.

In October this year, Sapporo dropped its initial plan to host the Games in 2030 as it failed to win sufficient understanding of local residents and said that it would seek to hold the event in 2034 or later.

In November, the IOC Executive Board selected the French Alps and Salt Lake City as candidate sites for 2030 and 2034, respectively.  The IOC has also decided to hold talks with Switzerland on the 2038 Games on a priority basis until 2027.

“Even if the possibility of hosting the event in 2038 emerges again, it will be 15 years later,” Akimoto said. “We have no choice but to suspend our bidding activities because we can’t foresee the problems Sapporo faces and the effects of holding the Games.”

JIJI Press