[Tyler]

Calgary gets more thinking time on 2026 bid from International Olympic Committee

Calgary has extra time to mull a possible bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics because the International Olympic Committee has shifted its timelines.

The IOC announced Tuesday in Lausanne, Switzerland, that the "invitation phase" starting in September for 2026 bids will be expanded to a full year to give "cities more time and more help to develop their proposals."

With the winning bid to be announced September, 2019, the formal bid process has been shortened to one year from two which reduces costs, the IOC said in a statement on its website.

"In a nutshell, the candidature process which worked so well in the past has become too expensive and too onerous for this new political reality," IOC president Thomas Bach said.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/olympics/cal...pic-committee/