10. Irish Senator pitches bid to host the 2072 Olympic Games
This story rode the wake of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in August when leaders in many nations dreamed of a future Olympics in their cities. But the pitch by Irish Senator Malcolm Byrne to bid to host a Games in Ireland in far-off 2072 was designed to trigger immediate action with short term benefits.
Buoyed by Ireland’s most successful Olympics ever, winning four gold among seven total medals, Byrne aims to sustain that success and build the foundation for future sports growth and opportunity.
“Ireland has just had our best Olympics in terms of not just medals but also performances across the range of sports and that being as a result of not only the work of the athletes and their coaches, but also government strategic investment in sport at both a local level and at a national level,” Byrne told GamesBids.com in October.
“Last week the government announced 250 million euros in sports capital,” he added. “for local sports organizations to improve their sporting facilities.”
Acknowledging that he expected his proposal to be met with cynicism, Byrne said “the main reason that I threw it into the mix was to start to talk about the need to invest in infrastructure to both support the development of our athletes, but also for us to be able to host international events.’
The resulting infrastructure and experience could support an Olympic Games in the future.
“But I think my challenge is also to the State, that we need to start to think in this kind of long term way about about putting things in place.”
[Top Story #9 on page 3]
