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Chile among several nations currently in dialogue to host the 2036 Olympic Games with decision expected “before LA 2028”: Sport Minister

Chile is planning to leverage venues and infrastructure prepared for the Santiago 2023 Games to host the Olympics in 2036, including the National Stadium Sports Complex in the capital

Closing Ceremony of Santiago 2023 Pan Am Games, November 5, 2023 (Photo: Marcos Dominguez / Panam Sports )
Closing Ceremony of Santiago 2023 Pan Am Games, November 5, 2023 (Photo: Marcos Dominguez / Panam Sports )

Officials in Chile say their country is deep in discussions with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and are among other regions waiting to move forward to present their bids to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2036.

Chilean Sports Minister Jaime Pizarro told Spanish news agency EFE that his government is ready to extend important state guarantees in efforts to support the bid.

“The State is the guarantor of ensuring the development and organization of infrastructure or coordination spaces, so that it can effectively materialize in a good way,” Pizarro said on the sidelines of the Panam Sports (PASO) General Assembly held this week in Asunción, Paraguay.

IOC President Thomas Bach attended the assembly and met with Pizarro and Chilean Olympic Committee (COC) president Miguel Ángel Mujica according to a Sport Ministry post on social media platform X. Bach had addressed members in attendance where Neven Ilic was reelected as PASO president.

Pizarro backed up his commitment with the example of the organization of the Santiago 2023 Pan Am Games where three consecutive governments worked towards the delivery of the event.

Along with other nations, Chilean bid representatives met with the IOC Future Host Commission in France during the Paris 2024 Games as part of an obscure bid process that is not officially reported by the IOC.

“Leveraging all the experience gained from the Pan American and Parapan American Games, we participated in continuous dialogues about all the preliminary processes, and the decision will be made before Los Angeles 2028 [Olympics],” he told EFE.

Chilean president reaffirms goal to host 2036 Olympic Games as Olympians return

The IOC has not announced any timelines, but in a more structured past bid process candidates were elected seven years in advance of the Games.

Pizzaro said he is waiting to hear from the IOC on next steps.

He said the bids in continuous dialogue are preparing to report “not only the proposed competition venues, but also training, logistics, transport, and sustainability,”

Chile is planning to leverage venues and infrastructure prepared for the Santiago 2023 Games to host the Olympics in 2036, including the National Stadium Sports Complex in the capital. In addition they hope to gain experience and showcase their potential when they host the Youth Parapan American Games in 2025 and the Special Olympics World Games in 2027.

In 2025 Santiago is set to stage the FIFA U20 Men’s Football World Cup, the UCI Track Cycling World Championship and the FIBA Women’s Basketball AmeriCup.

Pizzaro said the Olympics would be decentralized with venues spread to other locations across the country, many in public open spaces. Iconic natural settings such as Pichilemu for surfing, Viña del Mar for triathlon and Laguna San Pedrofor rowing and canoeing would be utilized.

Recognizing that the Olympics is a much larger event than the Pan Am Games, Pizzaro said that venue location and transportation logistics will be studied, adding “it has to do with how to coordinate this appropriately.”

“Therefore, this territorial distribution becomes important again, since not everything is concentrated in one region or city.”

Chile has never bid to host the Olympic Games. South America has only hosted the event once, with Rio 2016.

The IOC does not disclose nations that are currently involved in continuous dialogue but some jurisdictions have already discussed intentions for 2036 publicly. These include Istanbul in Türkiye, India, Egypt, Cape Town in South Africa and Seoul in South Korea. Qatar and Saudi Arabia are also known to be in the running.

Germany, Poland and United Kingdom have shown interest in bidding for the 2040 edition.

A senior producer and award-winning journalist covering Olympic bid business as founder of GamesBids.com as well as providing freelance support for print and Web publications around the world. Robert Livingstone is a member of the Olympic Journalists Association and the International Society of Olympic Historians.

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