Turmoil-hit 2030 French Alps Olympics lose CEO Cyril Linette in leadership shake-up
Organisers of the 2030 French Alps Olympics confirmed on Wednesday the departure of their chief executive officer following weeks of internal turmoil. They said the exit of Cyril Linette — who was at loggerheads with Edgar Grospiron, the former Olympic champion freestyle skier who leads the organizing committee — was formally acknowledged during a meeting of the executive board last weekend. Organisers said the decision reflected a collective desire for a “new momentum through renewed governance” ahead of a key phase of their project.
Tensions have multiplied in recent months, against a backdrop of several resignations, culminating in open conflict between Grospiron and Linette. Their feud was just the latest episode in a saga of turbulences that have weakened the project. It followed the successive resignations of chief operating officer Anne Murac, communications director Arthur Richer, as well as the departure of Bertrand Meheut, who was in charge of the remuneration committee.
“The stakeholders reaffirm their commitment to the success of the 2030 French Alps Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games,” organisers said. “The collective priority remains the continuation of the work already underway in service of the project.” The French Alps Winter Games — with speed skating destined to go abroad to Turin, Italy, or Heerenveen in the Netherlands, where venues already exist — has always been on the tightest timeline of any modern Olympics.
Like this month’s Milan Cortina Olympics, the French Alps has a split between snow sports in the mountains and skating in a snow-free city, the French Riviera resort Nice. Speed skating events are likely to be held abroad at an existing venue to avoid the high costs of building a suitable rink, with the Thialf Arena in Heerenveen or the Oval Lingotto in Turin among the contenders. A definitive map of the sites has yet to be adopted and is expected to be decided by the end of June.
