Alps 2030 Olympic Games: Val d’Isère reiterates its wish to host events, it is still very unclear on the map of sites

Newly elected officials but even want to be a major player in 2030. If the former mayor of Val d’Isère Patrick Martin was a fervent supporter of the Olympic Games in the Tarentaise resort, his successor is part of the continuity. Barely elected, Xavier Mattis wrote to Edgar Grospiron, the President of the organizing committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, reaffirming “the principled position of Val d’Isère”. The new municipal team thus confirms the position adopted by deliberation on February 2, 2026, specifying that discussions have already been initiated with Jean-Claude Killy, a major player in the reinstallation of the station on the map of sites.

More than 18 months after the organization of the 2030 Olympic Games was awarded to the French Alps, the map of sites has still not been revealed, with Edgar Grospiron only mentioning a “preferential scheme. » If Val d’Isère was one of the possibilities at the start of the application phase, it was Méribel which appeared on the map proposed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), in particular because of its proximity to Courchevel, which must organize certain Olympic events.

Jean-Claude Killy, however, stepped up to the plate, even putting together a solid case to put his favorite place back on the board. The awkwardness of the exchanges that followed led to the resounding departure from Méribel, which then gave up applying to organize the ski events, but also those of the Paralympic Games.

Change of tone now. For several weeks, discussions have resumed with Méribel, because Cojop needs to move forward on the question of the Paralympic Games, particularly on the Nordic part. The election of Bernard Front as mayor of Allues – Méribel shakes things up, especially since he had chaired the organizing association of the Alpine World Ski Championships, in Courchevel and Méribel in 2023. The procrastination around the map of sites could therefore work in favor of Méribel, especially as the Cojop must deal with financial restrictions and a desire by the IOC to offer a more compact map of sites, the day after the Games from Milan – Cortina particularly busted.

Defender of Val d’Isère, Edgar Grospiron is no longer, since the new crisis in February, in a position of strength, facing annoyed players. And in terms of the map of sites, the organizers are not at the end of their trouble, with the position of the new mayor of Nice, Éric Ciotti, who is forcing them to officially study a plan B in Lyon for the ice events.

In his letter, the new mayor of Val d’Isère says he is ready to continue to pay particular attention to the “conditions of participation that will be proposed”. An important point, especially since the stakeholders have still not found a financial agreement on the coverage of the various expenses.