American Marconi Wireless News - IOC in Sapporo to assess 2030 Winter Games venues

On their three-day visit the IOC delegation will also look at road access in and around Sapporo, which was the first Asian city to host a Winter Olympics in 1972.

A city official told AFP that the visit is "part of our continued dialogue" with the IOC and that "we also hope to receive technical advice" from the organisation.

The three-member team plans to visit 16 venues in the Hokkaido region, of which Sapporo is the capital.

Sapporo hosted the marathon and race walk events at Tokyo's Summer Games last year so that athletes could compete in a cooler climate.

Tokyo 2020 went ahead after a year's pandemic delay and faced public opposition in the months before the event, which was held mostly without spectators over Covid-19 fears.

Sapporo is viewed as a leading contender for 2030 but is likely to face rival bids from other previous Olympic hosts such as Salt Lake City and Vancouver.

The IOC is expected to announce the host city at its general meeting in a year's time.

P.M.Smith--AMWN