Seven countries have formally expressed interest in hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has confirmed that cities in Austria, Canada, Italy, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey are planning to lodge bids to stage the tournament.
Several previous Winter Olympics host cities, including Sapporo, Calgary and Cortina d'Ampezzo, are readying bids to land the event once again.
Turin, which hosted the 2006 Games, is planning to table a joint bid with fellow Italian city Milan.
Voters in and around Sion, Switzerland, are due to decide whether to push forward with a bid in June, while Erzurum in eastern Turkey must allay security concerns before a bid can be accepted.
The IOC was keen to see more bidders emerge for the 2026 Games after only two candidates for the 2022 event made it through to the voting stage.
