2023-05-07 17:25:20
Present in China for a five-day visit, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) broached the question of the future host of the 2036 Summer Games, confirming on the one hand the current interest of a dozen candidates and mentioning on the other hand the Chinese appetite for major planetary events.
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After having hosted the Summer Games in 2008 and the Winter Games in 2022 with Beijing, as well as the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, “the middle Empire” might once once more position itself for the organization of a next edition of the Summer Games, with this time an application from a city other than the capital.
In this sense, Shanghai has in the past raised the possibility of submitting a competitive projectand in recent years, a joint proposal from Chengdu and Chongqing was put forward without an application being clearly formalized for the time being.
In the coming months, Chengdu will in any case be the center of attention, with the holding of the 2021 Universiade postponed for two years due to the repercussions of the health crisis linked to the Covid-19.
For the occasion, several leading sports infrastructures have been fitted out or renovated and might, if necessary, be adapted to be able to host the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, in particular at the heart of the Lac Dong’ sports park. an located in Longquanyi District, east of Chengdu.
On site, the organizers will be able to count this summer on a 40,000-seat stadium, an 18,000-seat arena, a multipurpose gymnasium, as well as a 5,000-seat aquatic center.
Other modern facilities will also be on the Universiade program (July 28 to August 8, 2023), including the Gymnasium in the Chengdu High-Tech Zone offering a capacity of 13,000 seats for table tennis events, or the Jianyang Cultural and Sports Center with two facilities with 4,500 and 3,000 seats for hosting judo and diving competitions respectively. The Mount Fenghuang Sports Park Gymnasium in Jinniu District – connected to a 60,000-seat stadium – will provide an 18,000-seat capacity for the basketball tournament, which will also be held at within the Qingbaijiang Sports Center Gymnasium.
Existing venues such as the Shuangliu Sports Center Athletics Stadium and the International Tennis Center, both in Shuangliu District, or the Wangjiang University Campus Gymnasium in Wuhou District, for taekwondo, are also offered.
If a Chinese Olympic and Paralympic candidacy remains pending, the IOC would certainly welcome a new offer, as suggested by the President of the institution currently traveling in the country.
As Thomas Bach said at the press agency “Xinhua” :
Chinese applications are always welcome.
At the moment, we have already awarded future editions of the Games until 2032, so China still has time to think regarding a next bid that might aim for 2036.
But I’m sure, and I’m really looking forward to many major international sporting events taking place in China in the years to come. […] This shows the great trust that the sports world has in China as a host and organizer and how much we all appreciate the warm hospitality of the Chinese people.
The IOC President has also confirmed the great interest expressed so far by a dozen National Olympic Committees (NOCs) for the organization of the 2036 Olympics or a subsequent edition.
As Thomas Bach put it:
[Nous avons] already a two-digit number of interested NOCs or regions wishing to stage the Olympic Games in 2036.
There’s still time [avant l’attribution des Jeux]. We may have a better idea of what the world will look like in 2036 than we do right now..
With China, the IOC has undeniably found a trusted partner since the awarding of the 2008 Olympic Games, which enabled the country to assert its power on the international scene, particularly in the field of sport.
The institution of Lausanne (Switzerland) was therefore able to forge a close relationship with the Chinese authorities who, subsequently, had launched the challenge of obtaining the Winter Games once morest cities and territories that were much more experienced. but who, one by one, left the race, leaving Beijing facing the candidacy of Almaty (Kazakhstan).
Also, the promise of the organizers to bring more than 300 million new practitioners on the ski slopes and on the ice rinks was a key argument and an obvious trigger to entrust in fine the keys of the Games to China.
Last year, and despite the constraints imposed by the health crisisthe organization of these Games was a success.
This resulted in particular in a record audience of more than 2 billion viewers worldwide, a confirmed popular enthusiasm for winter sportsand even a budget surplus announced this week at 52 million dollars (46.97 million euros).
So many good points which contribute to strengthening the link forged over the last few years between China and the IOC – the visit of several days by Thomas Bach is a striking testimony to this -, and which might soon lead the institution to work on a return of games in “the middle Empire”.
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