Sapporo officially drops bid for 2026 Winter Olympics

A very good decision . It is a great shame that they have had to do this, but rather than siphon off money towards a sports event, they have decided to focus on helping people who have suffered in the earthquake, and preventing such loss in future cases.

A lesson Tokyo should have learnt.

Japan hosting these event once in a decade is more than enough. Personally i think is a waste of money, but it's good publicity once in awhile. But i think it put more pressure on our declining labor forces. Is cheaper to visit other countries to watch the games. Tokyo better not let those buildings from 2020 Olympics go to waste like so many other nations. Should put them to good use after the games are over.

Good! I’m happy the olympics will be held in somewhere besides Asia. Get the winter olympics back to where they belong.

Tokyo better not let those buildings from 2020 Olympics go to waste like so many other nations. Should put them to good use after the games are over.

We are still using plenty of the buildings from the 1964 and 1972 Olympics. It would be nice to have some new / replacements in Sapporo, and hosting a major event helps pay for facilities, transport improvements, etc that last for the long term. Hosting the Paralympics really forces host cities to reevaluate accessibility and you can see the results of the 1998 Olympics in Nagano and we'll hopefully see even more of it in Tokyo as a benefit of hosting 2020.

All that said, I agree that 2026 is too soon. Too soon for another Asian games, and too soon after Tokyo 2020.

planet will be too hot by then that the Summer and Winter games, if the Olympics is even still around, will be merged into a single games. Ironically, held in October

Smart choice, and not just because of the massive earthquake, the damage, and recovery time need. Japan in general needs to recover from its current "disease" of needing to host every single International event under the sun. I know our tax money needs to recover a little, and will definitely need it after Tokyo.

Watching Tokyo and the endless problems ,( Arigoto Mr Ishihara) to the point of changing time zones (not a bad idea) who would want to spend so much money. Two weeks + although apparently 2020 is the year Japan catches up with the rest of the world. And we might get to see Super Mario again. Now that's worth a tax increase. Good job Sapporo.

After meeting with Sapporo representatives, the International Olympic Committee says the city will now focus on a bid for the 2030 Games.

They're now focusing on the 2030 Olympics