Presidential candidate for the German Olympic Committee (DOSB) Thomas Weikert last week announced his interest in launching a bid to host the 2030 Olympic Winter Games.
Germany’s Rhine-Ruhr region had entered into dialogue with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to host the 2032 Summer Games but efforts were derailed when in February Brisbane in Australia was chosen as the preferred candidate instead and was later awarded the Games in July.
DOSB officials have said that they have refocused on a bid to host the Summer Games in 2036 despite it marking the dark 100th anniversary of the Nazi led Berlin 1936 Games, but Weikert said other options should remain in play.
“Maybe you have to apply for winter 2030, that can’t be ruled out,” Weikert said according to Sportschau.de.
“First of all, I think the Olympics are good for all athletes.
“It is important that the population stands behind it,” he added.
But Weikert wouldn’t rule out a run at the 2036 Games even as critics fear it could evoke a negative context.
“I think it is important that you apply as quickly as possible. Even if you lose, the basis for the next application is created experience shows that the first application is not necessarily successful.”
Germany has remained unsuccessful in a recent string of Summer and Winter Games bids. In addition to the Rhine-Ruhr failure, bids from Hamburg to host in summer 2024 and Munich in winter 2022 were defeated by local referendums. Another bid by Munich to host the Winter Games in 2018 lost in a final vote to PyeongChang.
Should the DOSB enter discussions with the IOC about a 2030 Winter Games bid it will join an already established list of potential candidates including Salt Lake City, Sapporo, Vancouver, Pyrenees-Barcelona and Ukraine. The IOC hasn’t set a timetable for the selection of the 2030 host but a decision is expected by 2023.
Interest in hosting the Summer Games in 2036 is growing and includes 2032 hopefuls Budapest, Indonesia, India and Qatar. Russia, Turkey, Korea and London are also known to be considering applications.
Weikert will be facing off against Claudia Bokel from the German Fencing Association and politician Stephan Mayer for the opportunity to succeed current DOSB President Alfons Hörmann. A vote is scheduled to take place December 4th at the DOSB General Assembly.
[Update November 15, 2021: Since the original publication of this story, Stephan Mayer has dropped out of the race due to recent turmoil in the DOSB]
