Former New Zealand Olympic Committee vice-president Bruce Ullrich thinks New Zealand should bid for the Games.
When a discussion of where a Winter Olympics should be held takes place, New Zealand is never brought up in conversation and with good reason, it is summer in New Zealand when the Winter Olympics is held and that is always in February. The Winter Olympics for that reason is held in the northern hemisphere but the former New Zealand Olympic Committee vice-president Bruce Ullrich thinks it is time for a change and that a southern hemisphere country should hold the Winter Olympics which would never a July or August winter event and New Zealand should be the place where the event takes place. Ullrich is even suggesting that the first southern hemisphere event should take place in either 2034 or 2038. Ullrich has a spot picked out for skiing, Mount Hope on the South Island. Ullrich thinks New Zealand has venues capable of holding winter sports with ice events potentially taking place in indoor venues around Canterbury.
But there is a catch. New Zealand has nothing in place that would support an endeavor such as the Winter Olympics as the New Zealand Olympic Committee has pointed out saying the country “lacks the necessary resources, facilities, and infrastructure”. The country literally would have to start from scratch and that is going to require an awful lot of money. Snow Sports NZ chief executive Nic Cavanagh threw cold water on the notion. “Currently it is not possible to hold an Olympic or Paralympic Downhill race due to the face that we do not have a homologated slope in New Zealand that meets the regulations. While it would be fantastic for Kiwi athletes to have the opportunity to compete on home snow, it would have to be determined whether it is environmentally and financially feasible to hold a Winter Olympics in New Zealand.” A New Zealand Winter Olympics is not happening.
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