Lake Placid’s dreams of co-hosting the 2026 Olympic Games with Italy took a big hit recently, as the home country announced it planned to build its own sled track in time for the games.

However, all the work Lake Placid put into a bid for that opportunity will not go to waste. New York State’s Olympic Village now has its eyes set on something bigger, teaming up with the big city to host the games on their own.

What You Need To Know

  • Lake Placid submitted a bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympic sledding events after it was determined Italy may not have a proper track ready in time; however, Italy claims it will have a track built in time

  • For that bid, Lake Placid worked with people down in NYC to ensure athletes could arrive and be that entertainment hub

  • However, that teamwork may not be wasted as talks are underway to see if Lake Placid and NYC could eventually submit a joint bid for a future, full Olympic Games

“I think many people may say, 'well, gosh, that's 5 hours away,' ” Olympic Regional Development Authority Communications Manager Darcy Norfolk said.

In drafting its emergency bid to co-host the 2026 Winter Olympic Games with Milan-Cortina, Italy, the host country seems to not have a proper sled track to host sliding events.

“The distance between the different venues within Milan-Cortina where they're hosting their events is actually that distance,” Norfolk said.

The Lake Placid Committee has teamed up with one from New York City.

“Up here in Lake Placid with our winter sports capital of the world, we would host the events, but we would take advantage of what we have in New York City as a point of entry, as well as the fact that they are a sport mecca, they are an entertainment hub,” Norfolk added.

As of right now, Italian officials said they will not need Lake Placid’s or any other city's help, and that they will build a sled track of its own in time for the Olympic Games. Some aren’t so sure, which does leave the door open slightly, but still very unlikely.

However, that does not mean Lake Placid and New York City's partnership would just go to waste.

“The opportunity, the sliding events, set the foundation for us to put ourselves back out there within the international sporting community, in particular for Olympic style events," said Ashley Walden, ORDA's president & CEO. “Let's utilize the venues that we have that are that already have infrastructure in place. So ski jumping, bobsled, skeleton, luge, biathlon, cross-country."

The rest need a major metropolitan area that can handle all of the other sports and all of the other needs. It just so happens Lake Placid has New York City.

“We’d need a secondary host city that can support a lot of the indoor and some of the housing and other concerns that come with a smaller village,” Walden said.

And while extremely preliminary, those talks have started.

“We have a small group that's really taking a look at what that would look like. We've had conversations with all of our sport partners to see how how this would come together. So, I would say that there's some initial work that's being done relative to New York City and Lake Placid’s bid,” Walden added.

Lake Placid officials say cities like Boston or Montreal could also be partners in a potential endeavor, but with what New York has put into the Olympic facilities, keeping the games in the state would be special.