Olympics in French Alps will go Dutch for speed skating and move ice events to Lyon from Nice

The next Winter Olympics in France sent speed skating to the Netherlands on Monday and left behind the palm trees of Nice to feature most ice events in Lyon. The International Olympic Committee’s executive board signed off a broad venue plan for the 2030 French Alps Winter Games that always had an unusually tight hosting schedule. With no suitable speed skating venue in France, organizers’ options included storied Dutch venue Heerenveen even before the bid awarded the hosting rights on the eve of the 2024 Paris Summer Games.

By Jason Griffith for PeeDeeWire

Yahoo Sports reports: The next Winter Olympics in France sent speed skating to the Netherlands on Monday and left behind the palm trees of Nice to feature most ice events in Lyon. The International Olympic Committee’s executive board signed off a broad venue plan for the 2030 French Alps Winter Games that always had an unusually tight hosting schedule. With no suitable speed skating venue in France, organizers’ options included storied Dutch venue Heerenveen even before the bid awarded the hosting rights on the eve of the 2024 Paris Summer Games.