Agency Report –
Hamburg, with the support of the nearby Schleswig-Holstein state, has entered the race to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Germany and presented its concept to German Olympic body the DOSB on Saturday.
Together with other politicians, Hamburg mayor Peter Tschentscher handed over the necessary bid documents to the DOSB.
This is Hamburg’s second attempt to host the Games. In 2015, the bid to host the 2024 Games failed after being rejected by citizens in a referendum.
“The bids of previous decades consisted of a city being rebuilt to accommodate the Olympic Games. And we reversed this principle,” Tschentscher said.
The city shouldn’t adapt to the Games, “but rather we adapt the Olympic concept to our city,” he added.
According to the concept, 87% of the planned competition venues are “existing facilities, temporarily usable or already planned construction projects.”
The plans include a new stadium right next to SV Hamburg’s Volkspark football stadium. The new 60,000-seat venue will be used for athletics competitions during the Olympics and later as Hamburg’s new home and as a multi-purpose arena.
“The stadium will be built even if the Olympics don’t happen,” interior senator Andy Grote said.
Berlin, the North Rhine-Westphalia state and Munich are also in the race to host the Olympics in Germany. The DOSB will make a decision in 2026 and referendums are expected to take place.
The body also still needs to decide whether it will bid for the 2036, 2040 or 2044 Summer Games.
Germany last hosted the Olympics in 1972 in Munich. Bids including from Berlin for 2000 and Leipzig for 2012 failed, while Munich’s bid for the 2022 Winter Games was also stopped by a referendum.
