The week began with the Italians seeking to shore up their joint effort between Milan, Turin and Cortina d'Ampezzo. Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala had previously indicated that he would prefer his city to go alone last month.

Talks between Sala, Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) secretary general Carlo Mornati and CONI President Giovanni Malagò were said to have smoothed matters over. Mornati reflected afterwards that there were "no doubts" about Milan's participation in the plans.

The Italian effort does still carry a degree of uncertainty with it. But you could certainly make the case that it is the most "Agenda 2020" friendly of any bid since International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach's famous doctrine was introduced.

A wider spread plan and no new venues required for the Games to take place seems to fit the bill of what was proposed under the Agenda 2020 logic. Whether the Italians will be able to take their project to the IOC Session, which still appears set for Milan next year, remains to be seen.

The effort potentially seems like the second strongest project at the moment, with Stockholm still lacking the political support and Erzurum an outsider.

The Turkish city's chances do seem to be increasing, with Sapporo expected to announce their withdrawal from the race tomorrow.

Earlier this year, local opinion polls in the Japanese city indicated a preference for the later edition of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics and officials have appeared in favour of that stance for a while. There have been suggestions that a recent 6.7 magnitude earthquake which struck Hokkaido, of which Sapporo is the capital, earlier this month has prompted a hastening of their withdrawal.

Sapporo's exit would leave four candidates remaining and arguably the favourite of those, Calgary, unveiled their plans earlier this week.

Officials in the Canadian city revealed the Games are estimated to cost CAD$5.3 billion (£3.1 billion/$4 billion/€3.5 billion) of which CAD$3 billion (£1.8 billion/$2.3 billion/€2 billion) would come from city, provincial and federal funding.

Unlike the Italian bid, two new venues would supposedly be required. An indoor venue for figure skating and short track speed skating and a mid-size arena to seat between 5,000 and 6,000 people are the facilities which would need to be constructed.

There was no mention of a National Hockey League-calibre venue, with Calgary 2026 instead opting to renovate the existing Saddledome. A curling venue, currently, is not listed in the plans with discussions said to still be ongoing. Canmore, Kananaskis, Whistler and potentially Edmonton would host events if the Canadian city was successful with its bid.

Claims that the Games could achieve an economic impact of CAD$7.4 billion (£4.3 billion/$5.7 billion/€4.9 billion) are interesting, with the public still needing to be convinced as a plebiscite approaches on November 13.

It follows the final vote in a series by the Calgary City Council over whether to continue with the project or not. A 12-3 vote in favour saw the Council effectively throw the decision over to the public, which was probably the expected outcome when the announcement of a plebiscite was made.

A positive vote for Calgary 2026 would almost surely see the 1988 hosts emerge as the red hot favourites to stage the Games, while if the trend of referendum defeats continues it feels like the Games really could end up anywhere.

I, for one, would not be surprised if we found ourselves at the end of the bid race with Salt Lake City confirmed as the hosts, given the uncertainty over the four 2026 projects. With the American city considering a run at the 2030 Games, it would not be beyond the realms of possibility for a deal to be done to take the Games four years earlier should other efforts fall flat. Perhaps with a sweetener or two thrown in to appease Los Angeles 2028.

There is a long way to go before that, but one has to suspect the prospects of a Calgary 2026 victory at the ballot box may have taken a blow earlier this month.

I imagine International Olympic Committee officials were wincing at the headlines from South Korea that Choi Moon-soon, the Governor of Gangwon Province, had called for "urgent assistance" from the Government to keep Pyeongchang 2018's sporting facilities open until 2022.

Choi told The Chosun Ilbo that Gangwon needed to pay KR₩20.3 billion (£14 million/$18 million/€16 million) to keep the facilities up and running. According to local reports the Government has refused a request to take on 75 per cent of upkeep costs for fear of setting a "bad precedent" on the allocation of funds.

This increased fears that unused venues could become white elephants while still racking up huge bills.

It seems remarkable that no legacy plans currently exist for the Gangneung Hockey Centre, the Gangneung Oval and the Jeongseon Alpine Centre from February's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

In June, the International Luge Federation President Josef Fendt called for the legacy plan to be "clarified" over the Alpensia Sliding Centre. He had previously expressed fears over the venue's post-Games use back in September 2017.

While both the IOC and Pyeongchang 2018 have pledged to confirm a surplus when financial figures are published, the concerns over the legacy of venues is a genuine issue, particularly given the delicate state of the remaining candidates in the 2026 race.

One wonders whether the IOC have an opportunity to address fears over the next couple of days here in Beijing, with their 2022 Coordination Commission beginning a two-day visit tomorrow.

Should the Commission follow in the footsteps of their Tokyo 2020 counterparts, I would expect the areas of cost efficiency and legacy planning to be firmly and loudly spoken about on the agenda. This would be to ease the fears of 2026 hopefuls as much as helping Beijing 2022.

It could potentially be a useful move for Beijing 2022 to reassure those watching from a distance that the Chinese capital has its own legacy plans under control well in advance of the Games.

Given the legacy concerns over the Alpensia Sliding Center, it will be interesting to see how China proposes to utilise their Xiaohaituo track when it is completed in time for use for bobsleigh, luge and skeleton events.

Their bid proposed that the facility would be turned into a national training centre and competition venue. With such facilities being so specialised and China's lack of heritage in the three disciplines, one wonders whether this would be enough to keep the venue running cost effectively beyond the Games.

With an Alpine Skiing facility needing to be constructed, there are questions over its suitability long-term. After all, the bid evaluation determined that mountain venues would rely almost completely on artificial snow for the Games. If that is the case, you have to wonder what happens to the site when the Games packs up and leaves town.

It should prove an interesting couple of days here in Beijing and an interesting few months ahead in the 2026 Winter Olympic race.