France, Feb. 18 -- 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-Amelie Le Fur, his counterpart at theFrench Paralympic Committee and the sports minister Marie Barsacq.

"Thank you to Edgar for accepting this chall...