The venues from the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary are forming the basis of their 2026 bid, so they must still be in good shape.
There are definitely some winners post-Olympics, but honestly I don't think they make sense anymore. Seems that Olympics has gone down the wrong path in so many ways with the demands from the IOC requiring bigger and bigger budgets, private organizations taking stricter and stricter control over content even social media that it's just not the same any more when compared to 20+ years ago.
I remember feeling an emotion for the older Olympics that's just not there as much anymore.
I think winter olympics are much easier to run sustainably than summer games since there are far fewer sports, and the ones that do exist don't require nearly the same level of specialized venues. Bobsled and ski jump are pretty unique, but other than that everything needed for winter games is highly reusable. Most of the venues are not even that seasonal with the right planning.
Calgary is in an excellent position to host winter games. The venues that have been maintained and used for nearly 30 years and the city has excellent light rail transit to move between venues. Calgary is used to opening its doors to millions of visitors in a short time every year thanks to the Stampede, so the is a huge volunteer core and tons of hotel space. There have been calls for permanent olympic venues to help hold down costs; I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better option than Calgary for the winter games.
- The Oval still hosts world cup speed skating. - Canome still has a world class x-country ski facility - Lake Louise still hosts world cup downhill (although it was not used during the 88 games). - We have an NHL sized arena, although there is work to build a new one. - MacMahon stadium could still host an opening ceremonies - Bobsleigh still hosts world cup bobsleigh, skeleton and luge - Calgary Olympic Park holds world cup aerials, moguls, snowboarding half pipe etc
The biggest change from 88 is the size of the crowds. The city would likely need a few more hotel rooms to house athletes and visitors, but that's easy. Our new international terminal just opened so we could handle the increased capacity.