IOC Confirms Seven Nations Bidding to Host 2036 Olympics

The International Olympic Committee said on October 6 that seven countries – India, Qatar, South Africa, Germany, Hungary, South Korea and Türkiye – are formally engaged in dialogue to host the 2036 Summer Olympics, with a final decision expected in 2029.²⁵⁶⁸

The bidders

All seven countries are in the IOC's Continuous Dialogue stage, the early phase of the host-selection process, according to the committee and multiple outlets. According to the IOC, the seven nations involved are Qatar, Türkiye, Hungary, India, South Africa, Germany and the Republic of Korea.³⁹

India's proposal focuses on Ahmedabad, located in Gujarat, the state where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was born, and would represent India's debut as an Olympic host. On October 1, 2024, the Indian Olympic Association officially submitted a statement of interest to the IOC's Future Host Commission. Ahmedabad will serve as host for the 2030 Commonwealth Games and contains the planet's biggest cricket venue. The Guardian reported that India's bid has slipped back over the past 18 months, citing concerns raised by the Indian Olympic Association over mismanagement and governance, as well as the country's performance at the Paris Games.²⁴⁷⁸

Qatar's bid is built around Doha and follows its hosting of the 2022 football World Cup. Because of extreme heat, any Gulf Olympics would need to be moved outside the traditional July-August window, according to several outlets. The Guardian described Qatar as widely regarded as the frontrunner in the race, a characterisation not confirmed elsewhere in the dossier. Some reports also note Qatar previously hosted the 2006 Asian Games, though this is not consistently corroborated.²¹⁷⁴

South Africa's bid, covering Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban, would be the first Olympics on the African continent and the first African summer host since 1896, according to the IOC's published guidance. Certain accounts mention that South Africa was the site of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, though this detail isn't consistently verified throughout the available sources. The Guardian described South Africa as a distinct outsider in the contest.²⁶⁷⁸

Germany's bid is centred on Munich after the German National Olympic Committee voted to select the city as its candidate, following Berlin's withdrawal. Munich last hosted the Olympics in 1972. The Guardian pointed out that staging a Games exactly one hundred years after the Nazi-run 1936 Berlin Olympics could present awkward public perception challenges; separately, Deutsche Welle noted that Munich's proposal is structured to keep future bids for 2040 and 2044 in mind as well.⁷³⁶⁸

Hungary, Türkiye and South Korea round out the field. The Guardian reported Hungary's bid is well regarded, though it is unclear whether the country's new government shares former leader Viktor Orban's enthusiasm for hosting, and that most other bids, besides those of Qatar and India, are being treated as placeholders for the 2040 Games. Istanbul previously came second to Tokyo in the bidding for the 2020 Olympics, according to Al Jazeera, and Seoul hosted the 1988 Summer Games.¹²⁸

How the IOC will choose

The IOC has published a roughly 30-page guidance document for bidders and set October 31 as the deadline for any additional national Olympic committees to declare interest. Per the IOC's guidance document, candidates will be evaluated across several criteria including facility planning, how athletes are accommodated, financial approach, backing from government and citizens, execution ability, and lasting impact.⁸²⁷⁹

According to the schedule, bidding nations will deliver online presentations to the Future Host Commission during November 2026. The IOC Executive Board, chaired by Kirsty Coventry, is due to draw up a shortlist and open Strategic Dialogue with chosen projects in March 2027, followed by a Targeted Dialogue stage with a smaller group of preferred hosts from December 2028. IOC members are expected to elect the 2036 host at an IOC Session in 2029. Coventry paused the previous fast-track selection process in June 2025 before the current roadmap was set out.³⁹²⁶

Accounts differ on how the final decision will be reached: some reporting describes a contested vote of more than 100 IOC members in 2029, while the Washington Post's account does not confirm this detail. Other recent hosts were chosen differently – Brisbane was selected for 2032 eleven years in advance without a contested vote, according to one report, and the Summer Games occupied the July-August slot from the 2004 Athens Games through the planned 2032 Brisbane Games before the Qatar bid raised the heat issue.⁴⁵⁸

The IOC president's message

IOC President Kirsty Coventry, a Zimbabwean former swimmer who won two Olympic golds in the 200-metre backstroke at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Games, has framed the selection process around athletes. She said: "Wherever the Games take place, one thing must never change: Athletes have to be at the heart of everything we do."³²

Coventry added that her own experience competing at five Olympics across four continents showed that each host brought something distinct, but that the athlete experience must remain the constant priority for any future host.¹