BUENOS AIRES, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Calgary (Canada), Milan/Cortina d'Ampezzo (Italy) and Stockholm (Sweden) have been officially confirmed as the candidate cities for the Olympic Winter Games 2026, at the International Olympic Committee's 133rd session here on Tuesday.

The approval from the session followed a recommendation from the IOC Executive Board, who dropped the Turkish city of Erzurum from the race during a meeting here last week.

The decision by the IOC Session marked the beginning of the shortened formal candidature stage, during which the cities will continue to work closely with the IOC to develop their best possible Games plan, in line with Olympic Agenda 2020/New Norm. The candidates need to submit a single candidature file in January 2019, as part of a streamlined process which reduces the cost and complexity for the cities.

A host city will then be elected at the IOC session scheduled for Lausanne in June of next year. The session had been scheduled to take place in Milan in September but the Italian city has been replaced by Lausanne following the approval of the joint bid by the membership today.

"We are very pleased with the quality of the candidatures, and look forward to extending our collaboration with the cities and the respective National Olympic Committees," said IOC president Thomas Bach.