Head of 2030 Winter Olympics Organising Committee Resigns

The chief of the organising committee for the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps, Edgar Grospiron, stepped down on Thursday after months of problems.

Grospiron's resignation adds to a list of notable exits from the committee managing the upcoming Winter Games.

"His decision to step down as president is part of a deliberate, organised and fully assumed transition, in the interests of the project and its governance," said the COJOP organising committee in a statement.

"It reflects a shared desire with stakeholders to enable the organisation to quickly enter this new operational phase," they added.

Grospiron, 57, won a gold medal in moguls at the 1992 Albertville Games. He had held the position for 18 months.

On his LinkedIn page, Grospiron mentioned, "After several months of tension within the organising committee, I draw the conclusion that the conditions are not met for me to continue this adventure."

He also faced political conflicts and issues with regional partners who did not like some officials trying to use strategies from the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics for the Games in the French Alps.

Major stakeholders, including the French government and the Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur and Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes regions, along with the French Olympic and Paralympic committees, told the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last month that they could no longer work with Grospiron.

After the resignation, the IOC expressed gratitude to Grospiron for his "crucial work" and stated that "the economic fundamentals of the project are solid."

They also mentioned, "The project also benefits from the development of a solid venue master plan."