Sports
Asian Cities and Nations Compete to Host the 2036 Olympics
If iconic waterways are the new trend for Olympic host cities, Istanbul’s mayor wants the IOC to know that his city has one ready.
If the key to securing the 2036 Games lies in hosting world championships in top-tier Olympic sports, Qatar can proudly highlight its track record over the past decade.
If winning over the International Olympic Committee is about ambition, financial muscle, and relationship-building, then India’s bid, supported by the Ambani family and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is strongly positioned.
Saudi Arabia is pursuing a similar strategy and recently secured a 12-year Esports Olympic Games hosting deal with the IOC in Paris, extending beyond the next Summer Games up for grabs.
If the 2036 Olympics are destined for Asia—a logical choice following Paris, Los Angeles in 2028, and Brisbane in 2032—Indonesia is ready to make its case as a rapidly growing economy of 280 million people.
In Paris, interested parties subtly made their pitches to host the Olympics in a process managed by the IOC that is now more discreet and less visibly competitive, a change some critics argue is too opaque. This new approach can lead to a decision far earlier than the traditional multi-candidate vote held seven years before the Games. Brisbane outmaneuvered Qatar to secure the 2032 Games 11 years in advance.
What is clear is that the 2036 Olympics host will be decided well before 2029, heavily influenced by the high standards set by Paris.
“I mostly focus on what the IOC expects, what they dream of, what the world wants to see,” Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu said in an interview in Paris. “Personally, I’m not really interested in knowing which city is the competitor.”
The IOC has indicated that there are “double-digit” numbers of cities or countries in discussions, perhaps informally at this stage, regarding their interest in hosting a future Summer Games, which could occur even after 2036.
Nonetheless, those who hosted hospitality houses in Paris over the past two weeks made their intentions clear.
At the opening of India House on July 27, IOC member Nita Ambani stated that hosting an Olympics was “a dream that belongs to 1.4 billion Indians.”
The Ambani family, India’s wealthiest and owners of the Reliance Industries conglomerate, has gained a global reputation for lavish hospitality. The celebrations surrounding their son Anant’s wedding in Mumbai spanned several months and attracted world leaders, A-list performers, and numerous IOC members who ultimately vote on Games hosts.
Qatar did not have a public hospitality venue, but the ruling Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, was in Paris for IOC meetings, where he has been a member since 2002, and for the opening ceremony.
Istanbul House opened during the final week of the Paris Olympics, reminding visitors that the city will host the 2027 European Games, serving as a sort of audition.
“You are also competing with the past experiences of Olympic Games,” Imamoglu noted. “You need to do better than what has been done in the past.”
Paris has demonstrated to an IOC focused on sustainability that the Olympics can be hosted without constructing costly, unused venues that linger as a burden on taxpayers long after the Games conclude.
Los Angeles in 2028 will go even further, utilizing only existing or temporary venues. This approach includes taking two sports that couldn’t be staged locally—softball and canoe slalom—1,300 miles (2,000 kilometers) east to Oklahoma City.
Indonesia hopes to win over Olympic evaluators by citing its successful hosting of the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang. The Asian Games feature more sports and athletes than the Olympics, and Saudi Arabia won’t host them until 2034, in Riyadh. Qatar hosted them in 2006 in Doha and will do so again in 2030.
“Indonesia has the infrastructure, the ambition, and the willingness to do it,” said Anindya Bakrie, Indonesia’s team leader at the Paris Olympics.
After Indonesia refused to host Israeli teams at last year’s Under-20 World Cup in men’s soccer, FIFA moved the tournament away from the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation just weeks before it was set to start.
“By declaring our intention to bid for 2036, it also means we acknowledge that we must address this issue. If we handle it correctly,” Bakrie said, “we have enough time to educate the public.”
And if Istanbul is to win—whether in 2036 or 2040—why not imagine an athlete parade at the opening ceremony along the Bosphorus Strait, which connects Europe and Asia?
“With the right scenario, the right choreography, it could be formidable,” Imamoglu suggested. “You can envision 500,000 people watching the inauguration in such a setting.”
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