Will Santiago, Chile bid for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games?

Santiago is a potential candidate for 2018 or 2022. Chile is hosting the World Youth Downhill Skiing 2010. In the next months, the Chilean Ski Federation will choose the candidate city from the winter centers of Chile's southern thermal baths such as the village of Pucon or the city of Chillán, or in central Chile, La Parva ski resort near Santiago. Santiago possesses excellent natural conditions and infrastructure, which some consider the best of the Southern Hemisphere. The Winter Games have never been held in the Southern Hemisphere or South America.

The 2018 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXIII Olympic Winter Games, will be celebrated in 2018, and are an international winter sports athletic event that has yet to be organized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The organization, under the leadership of Jacques Rogge, is currently preparing to mount calls for cities to bid for hosting the event. The deadline for bids is January 2009.