Photo/Illutration Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto speaks at a news conference on Oct. 14, a day after the International Olympic Committee decided to select the host cities for the 2030 and 2034 Winter Olympics at the same time. (Osamu Hiura)

SAPPORO--After withdrawing Sapporo’s bid to host the 2030 Winter Olympics amid declining public support, Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto plans to keep the city’s candidacy alive for the 2038 Games.

“If our bid for the 2034 Games falls through, I would like to reconvene with the concerned parties for further discussions,” Akimoto said at a city assembly meeting on Oct. 18. “The significance of bidding for the Olympics will remain unchanged.”

The International Olympic Committee on Oct. 15 released a list of candidate host cities for the 2034 Winter Games, including Salt Lake City.

But Sapporo was not listed.

The IOC officially decided to select the host cities for both the 2030 and 2034 Winter Games at its executive board meeting in late November. That will make it extremely difficult for the Hokkaido capital to win its bid to host the 2034 Olympics.

In the Sapporo assembly meeting, even the faction that has promoted the city’s Olympic bids expressed concerns about Akimoto’s plan.

“Shouldn’t we consider resetting the (bidding activities) back to a blank slate?” an assembly member asked.

Akimoto responded, “We need to examine what was lacking in our bidding activities.”

He added, without explanation, “From now on, we will engage in dialogue, not just considering things based on the schedule.”

Sapporo was viewed as a strong contender for hosting the 2030 Winter Olympics.

But bribery and bid-rigging scandals erupted over the Tokyo Summer Olympics, held in 2021. The corruption soured the public mood in Sapporo for hosting the sports extravaganza.

A disappointed Akimoto said, “I felt that our bid had been within reach.”

The decision by Sapporo city and the Japanese Olympic Committee to give up the bid for the 2030 Games was rooted in a reality described by JOC President Yasuhiro Yamashita.

“It’s hard to say that we have gained sufficient understanding from the residents,” Yamashita said.

It will take time to regain momentum among Sapporo residents for the Olympic bid. However, the city has no time to do so, given the IOC’s decision to simultaneously choose the host cities for the 2030 and 2034 Games in November.

Yamashita appeared caught off-guard by this development.

At a news conference on Oct. 11, he referred to rumors that the IOC would pick the two host cities at the same time.

“We believe the likelihood of such a decision is low,” he said.

Two days later, the IOC indicated its intention to make the simultaneous selection.

An official who was involved with Tokyo’s bid to host the Summer Games said: “The IOC has never neglected the JOC’s intentions.

“When Sapporo and the JOC were seeking to bid for the 2034 Games, Yamashita should have gleaned information about the IOC’s policy. If he failed to do so, it’s shocking and unbelievable,” the official said.

(This article was written by Osamu Hiura and Yuki Okado.)

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