Odd. The IOC seems to want to erase from its vocabulary a word which nevertheless stuck to its skin and punctuated its calendar. The word candidacy.

The race for the 2030 Winter Games is the best illustration of this. A team of IOC envoys is currently touring cities interested in hosting the Olympic and Paralympic event. It is made up of three people, whose identities have not been revealed. Three experts.

But, officially, the delegation from Lausanne is not talking about candidacy. It also does not mention the process of selecting the host city. And he is careful not to suggest that his work is akin to a form of evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of each applicant.

Her first stop took her last month to Salt Lake City, Utah, the city chosen by the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to apply for the Winter Games in 2030 and 2034. The visit was purely technical .

The trio of experts then traveled to Canada, to inspect the potential sites of the possible file proposed by Vancouver, British Columbia. Once again, a purely technical tour. It must end this Thursday, May 5.

According to Kyodo News, the IOC delegation will then head to Sapporo, Japan, presented as the favorite to win the organization of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2030. Its stage is announced for “ later in May"

The Japanese news agency reports that the three experts will be joined by members of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC). On the program: an inspection visit to 13 potential sites in Hokkaido prefecture.

The route plan of the mysterious IOC delegation also included an extended stop in Spain, to delve into the complex file prepared by Barcelona and the Pyrenees. But the visit was postponed, with the Spaniards still unable to reach an agreement on the distribution of sports between Catalonia and the neighboring region of Aragon.

The IOC clarifies this without fear of tongue-in-cheek: these field visits are in reality a service provided to bidders interested in the Games. They are supposed to help them assess the feasibility of their application file. The Olympic body insists that the trio of experts is not linked to the commission for the future host of the Winter Games, chaired by Romanian Octavian Morariu.

The IOC explained in a press release: respect the confidentiality of each potential host in their work to develop the public and private aspects of their project“. The court continues: “ Each interested party is free to communicate to national and regional media when they believe the time is right"

The message is clear: the race for the 2030 Winter Games is not at the bidding campaign stage. It is still in the dialogue phase with interested cities. A stage of the selection process which could result, as for the Summer Games in 2032, in the designation of a preferential candidate, the only one invited to continue.

Advantage: a much more discreet process, where everyone can withdraw without giving the impression of giving up their weapons or risking losing face. The word candidacy is not spoken. It might never even be.