IOC Evaluation Commission chair Octavian Morariu led the visit to the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm ©ITG

A unique piece of legacy could be created if Stockholm is awarded the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, a team of inspectors were told here today.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Evaluation Commission arrived in the Swedish capital to begin the next part of their visit having started yesterday 600 kilometres away in Åre.

They are due to spend the next four days here and appropriately started their visit at the Olympic Stadium built for the Summer Games in 1912.

In 1912 it hosted the athletics, some of the equestrian, some of the football, gymnastics, the running part of the modern pentathlon, tug of war and wrestling events, as well as the Opening Ceremony. 

It remains the only time Sweden have hosted the Olympics but, remarkably, after more than a century it still remains in daily use.

The Olympic Stadium in Stockholm was built for the 1912 Summer Games, when among the events it staged was the Opening Ceremony, and is still in daily use more than a century later ©Wikipedia
The Olympic Stadium in Stockholm was built for the 1912 Summer Games, when among the events it staged was the Opening Ceremony, and is still in daily use more than a century later ©Wikipedia

If Stockholm Åre 2026 wins it bid, then it is currently scheduled to host the snowboard events.

The Stadium has already hosted several editions of the International Ski Federation Snowboard World Cup. 

It will not be the first occasion an Olympic venue has hosted sports in both the Summer and Winter Games as Beijing is due to use several of the venues it built for 2008 when it stages 2022, including the Beijing National Aquatics Center for curling.

But it will be a record that will surely stand forever, a venue staging summer and winter Olympic sports 124 years apart.

"Using existing venues is very important," Octavian Morariu, chair of the IOC Evaluation Commission, said here.

"I think this is a very nice proof of legacy and a motivation [for cities] in the future."

If Stockholm Åre 2026 wins its bid then the Olympic Stadium will host snowboarding ©YouTube
If Stockholm Åre 2026 wins its bid then the Olympic Stadium will host snowboarding ©YouTube

Sweden's rich history in Olympic sport is an important selling part of the Stockholm Åre 2026 bid.

While visiting here, the IOC Evaluation Commission also received a presentation on the Nordic Games, the first international multi-sport event that focused primarily on winter sports and which was launched by Sweden in 1901 and was staged until 1926.

They were founded by Viktor Balck, a member of Sweden's Central Association for the Promotion of Sports and one of the five original members of the IOC. 

The event, although largely unknown outside Scandinavia, is seen by historians as a precursor to the Winter Olympic Games launched in Chamonix in 1924.