Munich faces seven-way field in early race for 2036 Olympics

Munich’s bid for the 2036 Summer Olympics will face at least six other candidates from Europe, Asia and Africa, the International Olympic Committee announced on Tuesday. Germany, Hungary, Turkey, India, Qatar, South Korea and South Africa are all currently taking part in the IOC’s Continuous Dialogue stage. The field is not necessarily closed.

The deadline for interested parties to submit a bid is October 31, meaning additional applicants could still enter the process. The IOC has not specified which cities are representing the countries other than Germany, although Ahmedabad, Doha, Budapest and Istanbul are identified as possible contenders in the report by DW. Candidates are expected to present their plans virtually to the IOC’s Future Host Commission in November.

In March 2027, the IOC plans to assess the proposals and reduce the field to a group that will enter the Strategic Dialogue stage. A Targeted Dialogue stage involving one or more bidders is planned for 2028. The final decision on the host of the 2036 Games is expected at an IOC Session in summer 2029.

The timetable means the current entries represent an early stage of a process that could still change. The IOC says it will assess proposals using technical factors. These include a master plan for competition venues and the athlete experience, a financing strategy, political and public support, the ability to deliver the event and a sustainability strategy.

IOC President Kirsty Coventry said the athlete experience should remain central to any future Games. “Athletes have to be at the heart of everything we do,” Coventry said, adding that delivering the best possible experience for athletes should be the starting point for every host. Munich secured Germany’s bid late last month after defeating the Cologne/Rhine-Ruhr region in a vote by delegates of the German Olympic Sports Confederation.

Berlin had withdrawn its bid shortly before that vote. Munich last hosted the Olympics in 1972. The German bid is not limited to 2036.

According to DW, it was designed with the 2040 and 2044 Games also in mind. If Munich is not selected for 2036, it could therefore face another large group of competitors when the later editions are considered. The IOC also said some National Olympic Committees are holding noncommittal discussions about hosting Games beyond 2036.

Those talks are separate from the candidates currently in the Continuous Dialogue for the 2036 Olympics, and do not establish that further bids will be submitted.