Olympic speed skating in 2030 could move to Dutch Heerenveen
The Thialf arena in Heerenveen has become the main candidate to host long-track speed skating competitions at the 2030 Winter Olympic Games, although the Games will formally be held in the French Alps. According to a report by the specialized portal Francs Jeux, the executive board of the French Alps 2030 Organizing Committee approved entering exclusive talks with the Dutch Thialf complex, giving the Dutch option an advantage over Turin. Such an outcome would mean that one Olympic sport would be held about 1,200 kilometres north of the Alpine venues, in a country that will not host the Games but has one of the best-known speed skating arenas in the world.
The decision is not yet final in an operational sense because, according to statements from the organizing committee reported by Francs Jeux, talks must continue in order to define the conditions for holding the competition, the management model and the cooperation of the parties involved. Nevertheless, entering exclusive negotiations is an important step because it shows that, after months of analysis, the organizers have chosen Heerenveen as the preferred solution. NL Times, citing the Dutch NOS, states that the final decision should be made next month and that expectations in the Dutch sports system are growing.
According to the information available, the problem did not arise because of a lack of interest in speed skating, but because of an Olympic strategy that increasingly avoids building expensive venues without a long-term purpose. The International Olympic Committee states that French Alps 2030 will use existing or temporary venues to the greatest possible extent, in line with the principles of Olympic Agenda 2020 and 2020+5. The official IOC materials emphasize that long-track speed skating will probably have to be held in an existing foreign venue so that a new stadium without a clear local legacy would not be built in France.
Why France is looking for an arena outside its borders
The 2030 Winter Olympic Games were awarded to the French Alps on 24 July 2024 at the 142nd Session of the International Olympic Committee in Paris. According to official IOC data, the bid was chosen with 84 votes in favour and four against, out of 88 valid votes. The Games are scheduled from 1 to 17 February 2030 and will be the fourth edition of the Winter Olympic Games in France, after Chamonix 1924, Grenoble 1968 and Albertville 1992.
The concept of the Games is based on several geographical areas, from Haute-Savoie and Savoie to Briançon and Nice, and the IOC states in its official description that the goal is to make maximum use of existing sports infrastructure. Ice sports such as figure skating and short-track speed skating are planned in the Nice Côte d’Azur cluster, while snow disciplines would be distributed across Alpine areas. However, long-track speed skating has remained a separate issue because France does not have a suitable specialized venue that could easily be included in the Olympic programme.
According to the explanation of the organizers and the IOC, building a new arena for a sport that does not have sufficiently strong infrastructure and everyday demand in France would not be in line with a sustainable model of organization. In practice, this means that for one discipline it is more acceptable to use an existing arena in another country than to build a new competition venue that could remain financially and programmatically difficult to sustain after the Games. Such an approach fits into the broader Olympic trend of reducing costs, using existing venues and distributing competitions outside the traditionally narrow boundaries of the host city.
In earlier phases, both Heerenveen and Turin were considered. The Italian city has Olympic experience because it hosted the 2006 Winter Games, and the Oval Lingotto arena has already been used for speed skating. Nevertheless, according to the latest decision of the French Alps 2030 executive board, the organizers are now continuing exclusively with the Dutch option. This does not mean that all technical details have been resolved, but it does mean that Thialf has moved from a plan with several options into the status of the main negotiated solution.
Thialf as a speed skating centre
Thialf in Heerenveen has a special status in world speed skating. Official information from the arena describes the complex as the home of top-level Dutch skating and one of the most important places for international competitions. The International Skating Union states that Heerenveen hosted the World Speed Skating Championships in sprint and allround from 5 to 8 March 2026, confirming that the venue already regularly receives competitions at the highest level.
For the organizers of the Olympic competition, it is also important that Thialf is not only an ice surface but a complex with experience in staging major events, with protocols for athletes, spectators, media and television production. NL Times, reporting NOS, states that French delegations, during several visits, asked questions about visitor movement, the Olympic village, ice quality, ticket sales and transport. Such questions show that the negotiations are not only about the sporting field of play but about complete Olympic logistics.
The Dutch sports federation NOC*NSF is involved in the talks together with Thialf, local and regional authorities and the national skating federation KNSB. Herbert Wolff, director of international relations at NOC*NSF, told NOS, according to NL Times, that the French themselves initiated the idea of Olympic speed skating at Thialf. Thialf’s business director Yvonne Kager told the same source that the Netherlands has no mountains and cannot organize the Winter Olympic Games on its own, but that it can take over this part of the programme if an agreement is reached.
For the Netherlands, such an agreement would also have symbolic weight. NL Times states that Olympic competitions in that country in 2030 would be held 102 years after the Summer Olympic Games in Amsterdam in 1928. Although France would remain the host of the Games, holding speed skating in Heerenveen would represent one of the most prominent examples of cross-border organization of an Olympic programme in Europe.
What still needs to be agreed
Exclusive talks do not automatically mean that everything is ready for Olympic delivery. According to the statement of the organizing committee reported by Francs Jeux, the conditions of hosting, competition management and the method of cooperation between French, Dutch and Olympic structures still have to be defined. This includes questions of responsibility, financing, security, athlete accommodation, transport connections and compliance with IOC rules.
The issue of the Olympic village or athlete accommodation will be particularly sensitive. According to NL Times, NOC*NSF is considering an existing location within a reasonably short distance from Thialf, with limited adaptations that should create an Olympic environment. Wolff emphasized at the same time that athletes often stress the importance of togetherness in the Olympic village, so they do not want a solution in which national teams would be scattered across several unconnected locations. For visitors who, if the decision is confirmed, would plan to come to Friesland, accommodation offers in Heerenveen and the surrounding area would also become a practical issue, especially on the days when the final races would be held.
It has not yet been announced what adaptations would have to be carried out in the arena itself. Kager warned NOS, according to NL Times, that the Olympic tournament cannot be compared with a European or world championship because different requirements apply. This may refer to accreditation zones, space for television companies, security perimeters, additional capacities for journalists and IOC protocols. Given the distance from the main French clusters, an important part of the agreement will also be the way of connecting Heerenveen with the rest of the Olympic programme.
At the same time, the organizing committee is going through a broader phase of operational structuring. Francs Jeux reported that the French Alps 2030 executive board unanimously confirmed the appointment of Vincent Roberti as chief executive officer, and he is expected to take office during June. In a statement reported by that portal, Roberti said that the coming months will be crucial for continuing the development of the project and entering the concrete phase of operational planning and delivery of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Sustainable Games or a precedent that opens new questions
The possible relocation of speed skating to the Netherlands fits into changes in the way the IOC and hosts think about major sports events. The official IOC materials for French Alps 2030 emphasize the use of existing infrastructure, connection with local development plans and reduction of the need for new venues. In that sense, Thialf is a logical choice because it already exists, has a recognizable sporting identity and is located in a country where speed skating is one of the most important winter sports.
On the other hand, such a model raises questions about the experience of athletes, fans and the Olympic public. Speed skating in Heerenveen would be physically separated from most of the French Olympic programme, which means that some athletes, officials, journalists and spectators would have completely different logistics from those in the Alpine and Mediterranean clusters. The organizers will therefore have to show that the Olympic identity can be maintained even when one competition takes place far from the main area of the Games.
The political question is also important. French Alps 2030 represents a national project with regional clusters, but speed skating would, if the agreement is concluded, become an international segment of that project. According to the information so far, the organizers are not presenting this as abandoning French hosting, but as part of a sustainable model agreed with the IOC. In that sense, Heerenveen would not replace France as host, but would take over the discipline for which the existing French system does not have an appropriate venue.
The broader context of the 2030 Olympic programme
The IOC has announced in official information that French Alps 2030 will be held from 1 to 17 February 2030 and that the sports programme will be distributed across four main areas. Olympic sources state that the concept will rely on existing and temporary venues, and in February 2026 the organizers presented to the IOC a vision of Games that should be rooted in the French Alps, open to the world and focused on environmental responsibility. Within that framework, the decision on speed skating becomes one of the most visible tests of sustainability in practice.
Long-track speed skating differs from short track, which is held on a smaller ice surface and can be more easily fitted into multipurpose arenas. The long track requires a specific 400-metre oval ice track, large technical capacities and precise ice conditions. For that reason, the number of suitable venues in Europe is reduced to a smaller circle of arenas that can meet Olympic requirements without major additional investments.
Heerenveen is particularly recognizable within that circle because Thialf has been associated for decades with the strongest world competitions. The ISU held the 2026 World Sprint and Allround Championships in Heerenveen, and official information from the arena emphasizes that major skating competitions are regularly held there. For the organizers of French Alps 2030, this means that they could rely on existing knowledge and an audience that knows the sport well, while the French part of the project could focus on disciplines for which it has appropriate infrastructure.
Next steps
According to the information currently available, the decision on Thialf is not yet a final contract but entry into the final negotiation phase. The organizing committee must work out with the Dutch partners the conditions of the competition, financial and legal responsibilities, accommodation, transport, security and operational management. After that, it will be clearer whether Heerenveen can officially become an Olympic venue for 2030.
If the agreement is confirmed, long-track speed skating will become the most distant part of the French Alps 2030 programme and one of the most concrete examples of the new Olympic policy that gives priority to existing venues over building new ones. For athletes, this would mean competing in one of the best-known arenas in their discipline, and for organizers a complex but potentially more rational model for holding the competition. Until official confirmation, however, it remains open how Olympic rules, French hosting and Dutch delivery will be translated into a single operational plan.
Sources:
- Francs Jeux – report on the decision of the French Alps 2030 executive board, the appointment of Vincent Roberti and exclusive talks with Thialf (link)
- International Olympic Committee – official information on the election of French Alps 2030 as host of the Winter Olympic Games (link)
- International Olympic Committee – overview of the 2030 and 2034 host elections and the voting result for French Alps 2030 (link)
- International Olympic Committee – official overview of the French Alps 2030 concept, dates and distribution of sports by clusters (link)
- International Olympic Committee – official description of the sustainable concept and the possibility of holding speed skating in an existing foreign venue (link)
- NL Times / NOS – report on Dutch negotiations, visits by French delegations to Thialf and expectations of a decision (link)
- International Skating Union – official information on the 2026 World Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen (link)
- Thialf – official information on the arena and events in Heerenveen (link)