RIGA, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Sigulda, a picturesque town in central Latvia some 50 kilometers from the capital city Riga, is planning to purchase land for a development project with Olympic potential, the Sigulda local authority informed Friday.
The houses and infrastructure municipal officials are planning to build on the 5.5 hectares land plot are necessary to meet growing demand for housing and other needs of the local population.
But they can also become an Olympic village because under a cooperation memorandum signed in January 2018 between Latvia and the Swedish capital city Stockholm, some events of the 2026 Winter Olympics might be held in Sigulda if Stockholm's bid to host the games proves successful.
Sigulda has a bobsleigh, skeleton and luge track, which has already been used as a venue of quite a few international competitions, while Stockholm lacks such facilities.
The Swedish Olympic Committee has therefore offered Latvia to host the bobsleigh, skeleton and luge events if Stockholm wins the rights to host the Olympics.
The local government of Sigulda, which is expected to provide guarantees to the Swedish Olympic Committee about Olympic village's construction by March 2019, has worked out a provisional development plan that meets the International Olympic Committee's requirements and at the same time is based on the town's long-term strategy for housing and infrastructure development.
The planned Olympic village would be built in a walking distance from the Sigulda bobsleigh track and the nearby sports center. It would provide accommodation and all the necessary services to the athletes and officials that would arrive in Sigulda for the games.
"The opportunity to participate in the bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics, offering to organize the bobsleigh, skeleton and luge competitions in Sigulda, allows to take decisions on the renovation and upgrading of the Sigulda track and meeting Sigulda residents' needs faster," said Aldonis Vrublevskis, president of the Latvian Olympic Committee.
