IOC President Thomas Bach suggests Chinese Government consider bid to host 2036 Olympic Games

May 11, 2023

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has urged the Chinese Government to put forward a bid to host the 2036 Olympic Games.

Speaking during a five-day visit to the country last weekend, President Bach was reported to have stated “candidatures from China are always the most welcome.”

China’s official Xinhua news agency website quoted President Bach as saying “right now we have already allocated the hosts until 2032, so China still has some time to think about the next candidature, which will be 2036.

“But I’m really looking forward to many major international sports events taking place in China in the coming years.”

With Jakarta in Indonesia and the Turkish city of Istanbul have previously indicated an interest in hosting the 2036 Games, President Bach went on to suggest that the number of national Olympic committees interested in hosting the 2036 Olympics is already in “double digits”, adding “(but) there is still some time to go.”

While China has been a controversial Olympic host - Beijing staging the summer Games in 2008 and the Winter Olympics last year - because of its record on human rights, President Bach told Xinhua that the international competitions still taking place in China “shows the great confidence the world of international sports has in China as a host and organiser and how much we all appreciate the warm hospitality of the Chinese people.”

Just when a host for the 2036 Games will be chosen remains to be seen under the IOC’s new, less formal bidding process. This process saw Brisbane awarded the 2032 Summer Games almost two years ago, before any rivals had emerged.

However, with the Winter Games, the IOC is taking the opposite approach.

Last December, the IOC Executive Board decided to delay naming the 2030 host, opening the door to new competitors and launching a study of the impact of climate change that could call for rotating future Winter Games among permanent hosts.

Xinhua reported the IC President indicating that at least the siting of the 2030 Winter Games “will happen next year”, telling the Chinese state news agency, “by then we will have a clearer picture on the overall impact of climate change and the other challenges winter sports are facing.”

Images: Fireworks explode over the ‘birds nest’ National Stadium during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. Credit: Shutterstock.

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