Switzerland makes 1st move for 2026 Winter Olympic bid

BERN, Switzerland (AP) Switzerland has taken the first step toward bidding for the 2026 Winter Olympics, three years after Swiss voters rejected a proposed 2022 bid in a referendum.

The Swiss Olympic committee says national sports bodies voted Friday to launch the 2026 bid process.

Cities and regions will be invited to an April 20 meeting in Lausanne.

The Olympic committee says sports bodies will decide by September 2017 which city to put forward. That will be after a referendum is held in the canton, or state, of the proposed candidate.

In 2013, a proposed bid for the 2022 games from St. Moritz and Davos was dropped after it was turned down in a referendum.

Swiss Olympic president Joerg Schild says ''mistakes made in the past must not be repeated.''

Switzerland last hosted the Winter Games in 1948 in St. Moritz.