Calgary will redefine its reputation as a winter sport powerhouse in the aftermath of a vote rejecting a bid for the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In a city where recreational, domestic and international athletes ski, board and skate in the legacy venues from the 1988 Winter Olympics, the results of a plebiscite indicated that distinction doesn鈥檛 warrant bidding for another games.
In the non-binding plebiscite, just under 40 per cent of eligible voters cast a ballot, and 56 per cent cast a dissenting one.
A Calgary city council that was nervous and divided over bidding is expected to scuttle it Monday.
Calgary, along with the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., made Canada a player in the international sport community.
If a city synonymous with a successful games legacy doesn鈥檛 want to them again, what Canadian city ever will?
鈥淪port in a positive sense really brings a country together,鈥� Canadian Olympic Committee president Tricia Smith said Wednesday. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 just a part of us, our humanity. So I suspect we will see another bid from Canada.鈥�
But the chair of Calgary鈥檚 bid corporation doesn鈥檛 think the city should immediately shift its focus to chasing the 2030 Winter Games. Scott Hutcheson says the city needs to decompress and re-assess.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think its 2030,鈥� Hutcheson said. 鈥淚 think you鈥檝e got to put your pencil down for seven years. You don鈥檛 put it down for three years.
鈥淯se the work later, but you can鈥檛 put a city through this every four years. My view would be let it go, accept the result, move on and come back with a bid maybe in seven years.鈥�
READ MORE:
Yves Hamelin relocated from Quebec, where he was head of the national short-track speedskating team, to Calgary in 2014 to oversee the Olympic Oval. His son Charles is a three-time gold medallist in short-track.
A sport system that would have been shaped by a home games on the horizon now must adjust expectations and plans, he said.
鈥淔or a while, there鈥檚 definitely going to be an impact,鈥� Hamelin said. 鈥淲ill this remove our appetite to do what鈥檚 right, to support our community, support youth and the athletes that come out of this sport development? The motivation will always stay.
鈥淲e will always keep our eyes on making the sport system as best we can with what we have to do that. The games were just a tool, a leverage to really give an edge to our system. We鈥檙e going to have to be more creative I would say.鈥�
Looking at Calgary through a sport lens, it is a city of facilities more than three decades old.
WATCH: Calgarians say no to 2026 Olympic bid
While a new stadium and NHL arena weren鈥檛 part of the proposed draft plan, McMahon Stadium and the Saddledome were promised an overhaul.
A $500-million renewal of Calgary鈥檚 鈥�88 legacies was one piece of a proposed bid.
The other was economic revitalization of a city that has a commercial vacancy rate of 25 per cent in a province that desperately wants pipelines built to the coast to get a competitive price for its oil.
Calgary was one of many North American cities that made a pitch for Amazon鈥檚 second headquarters, but didn鈥檛 make the shortlist.
Calgary 2026鈥檚 proposed draft plan asked Calgarians to put in $390 million and said $4.4 billion would come back to the city if it won the games.
Kyle Shewfelt, an Olympic gold medallist in gymnasitcs at the 2004 Athens Games, is a business owner in Calgary operating his own gymnastics centre.
For him, sport ranked second behind the economy when it came to what he thought a Winter Games would do for the city.
鈥淢y question now is, if 56 per cent of Calgarians didn鈥檛 want this, what do they want?鈥� he asked. 鈥淭his was about a catalyst for our city to move forward.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in a place right now where we鈥檙e boom and bust because of oil and gas and that鈥檚 all we wait for. I want to diversity this economy. I want us to pursue a big challenge. I want to be a part of that.鈥�
The International Olympic Committee is left with two of the three cities it invited to be candidates for 2026: Stockhom and Milan-Cortina d鈥橝mpezzo, Italy.
IOC executive Christophe Dubi visited Calgary multiple times touting a low-risk, high-reward scenario should Calgary get the games.
The IOC, like Calgary 2026, did not convince the majority of voters Tuesday.
鈥淚t comes as no surprise following the political discussions and uncertainties right up until the last few days,鈥� the IOC said in a statement.
鈥淚t is disappointing that the arguments about the sporting, social and long-term benefits of hosting the Olympic Games did not sway the vote.鈥�
鈥� With files from Canadian Press sports reporter Gregory Strong.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
Like us on and follow us on .
