Olympics
Tensions are mounting in the French Alps after the ski resort of Méribel announced plans to withdraw from the 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, citing a dispute with the Games’ organizing committee over the relocation of key alpine skiing events. The alpine village, part of the municipality of Les Allues in Savoie, had initially been slated to host women’s alpine skiing and all Paralympic skiing events. However, after a visit Thursday, July 17, from Edgar Grospiron, president of the Games’ organizing committee (COJOP), Méribel officials said they were presented with three revised options—one of which would shift the women’s Olympic alpine events to Val d’Isère, 75 kilometers (47 miles) away.
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“If Méribel doesn’t have both events, which doesn’t adhere to the Olympic Charter, we will withdraw our candidacy,” Thierry Monin, mayor of Les Allues, told AFP. “Since 1992, the two events—men’s and women’s alpine skiing—have been at the same venue.” The decision, announced in a strongly worded municipal statement on July 17, accuses the organizing committee of undermining established Olympic principles. The proposal to separate the Olympic and Paralympic alpine skiing venues, the statement argued, violates both the spirit of the Games and prior commitments made during France’s successful bid for the 2030 Olympics. “Alpes 2030 would be the first destination since 2002 to question the pooling of Olympic and Paralympic sites for skiing,” the statement read. “A real aberration—logistical, financial, environmental and symbolic.”
Last year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and French organizers unveiled a plan that placed the men’s alpine skiing events in Courchevel and the women’s in Méribel—both neighboring resorts that co-hosted the 2023 Alpine World Ski Championships. Now, Méribel alleges it is being squeezed out in favor of Val d’Isère, which had been excluded from earlier venue maps.
The organizing committee has yet to issue a final ruling but said it “takes note” of Méribel’s announcement. “To date, no final arbitration has been rendered,” COJOP told French newspaper Le Dauphiné Libéré. “All stakeholders are working on a preferential scheme to propose the best possible arrangement—sportingly and in terms of entertainment—within a responsible budgetary and environmental framework.”
Tensions may also stem from Méribel’s earlier decisions to decline hosting stages of the Women’s Alpine Ski World Cup in both 2024 and 2026, citing scheduling conflicts during school holidays. That may have complicated the town’s bid to remain central to the Olympic alpine program. However, Méribel co-hosted the 2023 World Championships, so has proven track record in its ability to hold large alpine races.
Monin rejected an alternative proposal to host all the “snow” disciplines of the Paralympics, arguing that without the Olympic women’s events, the plan amounted to a symbolic sidelining of the resort. “It makes no sense,” he said. Méribel, which memorably hosted women’s alpine skiing during the 1992 Winter Games in Albertville, says it remains committed to co-hosting both women’s Olympic and Paralympic skiing in cooperation with its neighbors—Courchevel, Brides-les-Bains, and Bozel, the latter of which is expected to host the Olympic village.
It will be the fourth time France will host the Winter Olympics, after 1992 in Albertville, 1968 in Grenoble, and 1924 in Chamonix. Part of the French bid was to re-use existing infrastructure and venues and spread out the events across two Alpine regions: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. France will spread out accommodation across five Olympic villages, with none more than 30 minutes away from the competition site. Three venues from the 1992 Winter Games will be used again: La Plagne’s sliding track, the Courchevel ski jump, and Méribel’s Roc de Fer Downhill skiing course. The other proposed snow venues are located in La Clusaz, Le Grand Bornand, Serre Chevalier, and Montgenèvre, while Nice will host the ice skating events and the closing ceremony. Val d’Isère had not been part of the initial proposal for Alpine events submitted to the IOC—Alpine events were proposed to be held in Courchevel and Méribel only.
For now, the picturesque resort is “retreating from the fray,” as the mayor put it—leaving organizers scrambling for a solution and raising new concerns about unity and logistics in France’s 2030 Olympic ambitions.
