A Decision on the 2032 Summer Games Location? Don’t Hold Your Breath | Sports Destination Management

A Decision on the 2032 Summer Games Location? Don’t Hold Your Breath

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Oct 16, 2019 | By: Mary Helen Sprecher

We know where the 2024 and 2028 Olympics and Paralympics are going to be held, and for the last few months, there has been plenty of rumbling (and lobbying too) about the next hosts. And it was expected that the 2020 Games in Tokyo would be a prime time for an announcement about 2032.

Not so fast, says the IOC.

President Thomas Bach stressed no decision will be made next year regarding the 2032 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.

All together now: Awwwwwww…

It’s not for lack of trying. According to Inside The Games, Queensland is seen as a clear front-runner for hosting duties, having already met with the IOC multiple times. Nothing is guaranteed, however, as South Korea's President Moon Jae-has also thrown that country’s hat into the ring. (Bach has noted that the IOC would “warmly welcome” a potential joint Korean bid when he met with officials from the North and South in February.)

At the moment, those are the two leading bids; however, other nations have expressed varying degrees of interest, including the following:

  • Egypt – Cairo
  • Ghana – Accra
  • South Africa – Johannesburg
  • India – Mumbai
  • Indonesia – Jakarta
  • Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur and Singapore (joint bid)
  • China – Shanghai and Hangzhou-Nanjing
  • Germany – Rhine-Ruhr or Berlin-Hamburg, (with sailing venue in Kiel)
  • Hungary – Budapest
  • Russia – St. Petersburg, Kazan and Sochi
  • Spain – Madrid and Valencia (possibly with open water sports being conducted in other cities as well)
  • United Kingdom – London
  • Italy – Bologna and Florence
  • Argentina – Buenos Aires

While it’s unlikely many of these will actually bid (the Olympics has become increasingly undesirable to host), some cities may not be good candidates for various reasons. Russia, for example, is under intense scrutiny over state-sponsored doping. Areas with political unrest will likewise be avoided.

The next Winter Olympics and Paralympics, those in 2026, will be held in Italy, in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo. (The Italian bid triumphed over that of Stockholm–Åre and became the first Olympics with multiple official host cities). The two bids were left after five others dropped out for various reasons, all in 2018: Calgary, Canada; Erzurum, Turkey; Sapporo, Japan; Graz, Austria and Sion, Switzerland.

The U.S. has noted it might bid on the 2030 or 2034 Winter Games, and if it does, it will be with Salt Lake City, which last hosted in 2002.

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