Former Olympic skiing champion Edgar Grospiron was on Tuesday formally anointed head of the committee organising the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps.

Grospiron, 55, emerged as a candidate after another former Olympic champion Martin Fourcade terminated his campaign to operate as the face of the Winter Games.

The former biathlete stepped away at the start of the month after several clashes with the leaders of the regions that will host the event.

Grospiron was selected following talks between David Lappartient, head of the French National Olympic Committee, Marie-Amélie Le Fur, his counterpart at the French Paralympic Committee and the sports minister Marie Barsacq.

"Thank you to Edgar for accepting this challenge," said Lappartient during the official launch of the organising committee at the Groupama Stadium in Décines, near Lyon. "There is a lot of work to be done."

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In his first official address as boss of the organising committee, Grospiron hailed the work of the teams that have brought the event to France.

"A lot of people did a lot of things so that the Games could be staged here and now my mission is to organise them," he said.

"I'm determined to deliver impeccable Games and we'll do our best to ensure that they have as small an ecological footprint as possible, and that they can be held in incredible venues.

Read more on RFI English

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