Eight nations now stand in pursuit of the 2036 Summer Olympics, each carrying its own vision of what the Games can mean for a city and a people. Munich, the last German host in 1972, has won the right to represent its country again — entering a field that spans four continents and reflects how broadly the Olympic dream still travels. The International Olympic Committee will spend three years weighing not just logistics and financing, but the deeper question of which city can best honor the athlete at the center of it all. In a world of competing ambitions, the process itself becomes a kind of
Munich faces stiff competition as seven nations bid for 2036 Olympics
Athletes have to be at the heart of everything we do.
Mark
So Munich is one of seven bidders for 2036. That's a lot of competition. How does the IOC actually narrow it down?
Mimi
They do it in stages. Right now everyone's in what they call Continuous Dialogue—basically getting to know each other. In November the candidates present their plans. Then in March 2027 the IOC picks a shortlist. After that it's Strategic Dialogue with the finalists, then Targeted Dialogue with the strongest contenders. Final decision in summer 2029.
Luke
Three years is actually quite fast for this process. But I want to know: do we know which cities are actually bidding? The IOC hasn't confirmed the specific host cities for most of these countries.
Mimi
Right. We know Munich for Germany. But for the others—India, Qatar, Turkey, Hungary, South Korea, South Africa—the IOC hasn't said which cities they're proposing. There's reporting that Ahmedabad, Doha, Budapest, and Istanbul are likely, but that's not confirmed.
Mark
What's the IOC actually looking for in these bids?
Mimi
They call it "technical factors." Venues, athlete experience, financing, political support, sustainability. The Munich team says they're strong on all of those.
Luke
But we don't have independent verification of that. We're hearing what the German Olympic Sports Confederation claims about Munich's positioning. We don't know how the other six bidders stack up on those same criteria.
Mark
Is Munich favored because it's in Europe?
Mimi
That's not clear. The IOC has been trying to spread the Games around geographically. But Munich last hosted in 1972, which was a long time ago. The city has experience with the logistics.
Luke
Though that 1972 Games is complicated history. The Munich massacre happened there. I don't know if that factors into how the IOC or the public thinks about Munich as a host.
Mark
What if Munich doesn't win?
Mimi
The bid was designed with 2040 and 2044 as backups. Munich can bid again. But so can everyone else—the IOC says there are already other countries in preliminary talks about hosting beyond 2036.
Luke
So this isn't winner-take-all. It's a rolling process. Multiple cities will eventually host in the 2030s and 2040s.
Der Puls
- Munich enters a crowded global race — seven confirmed rivals, more possibly joining before the October 31 deadline — making this one of the most contested Olympic bids in recent memory.
- The shadow of 1972 hangs over Munich's candidacy, as the city returns to Olympic ambition for the first time since the Games that ended in tragedy for eleven Israeli athletes and coaches.
- The IOC has compressed its selection timeline to three years, cycling bidders through Continuous Dialogue, Strategic Dialogue, and Targeted Dialogue phases before a final decision in summer 2029.
- Germany's Olympic body has built Munich's bid as a long-game strategy — designed to survive defeat, with 2040 and 2044 already mapped as fallback cycles if 2036 does not come through.
- IOC President Kirsty Coventry is anchoring the evaluation in athlete experience, insisting that the memory a competitor carries from the Games must be the measure every host city is held to.
Eight nations now stand in pursuit of the 2036 Summer Olympics, each carrying its own vision of what the Games can mean for a city and a people. Munich, the last German host in 1972, has won the right to represent its country again — entering a field that spans four continents and reflects how broadly the Olympic dream still travels. The International Olympic Committee will spend three years weighing not just logistics and financing, but the deeper question of which city can best honor the athlete at the center of it all. In a world of competing ambitions, the process itself becomes a kind of reckoning about what the Games are still for.
Munich will not chase the 2036 Summer Olympics alone. The International Olympic Committee confirmed on Tuesday that seven nations — Hungary, Turkey, India, Qatar, South Korea, South Africa, and Germany — have formally entered the bidding process, with more countries potentially joining before the October 31 deadline. Budapest, Istanbul, Doha, and Ahmedabad are among the likely host cities, though the IOC has not confirmed specific municipal candidates.
Munich earned Germany's nomination in late September, defeating a rival bid from the Cologne/Rhine-Ruhr region in a domestic vote by the German Olympic Sports Confederation. It will be the city's first Olympic bid since 1972 — Games indelibly marked by the hostage crisis that killed eleven Israeli athletes and coaches and a German police officer.
The selection unfolds across three years. Bidders are currently in the IOC's Continuous Dialogue stage, refining proposals and building relationships with Olympic officials. Virtual presentations to the Future Host Commission are scheduled for November, with a shortlist announced in March 2027. A Targeted Dialogue phase in 2028 will narrow the field further before the IOC makes its final decision at its 2029 summer session.
Each bid will be judged on venue planning, financing, political and public support, operational capacity, and sustainability. IOC President Kirsty Coventry — a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Zimbabwe — placed the athlete experience at the center of the evaluation, arguing that what a competitor carries from the Games stays with them for life.
Munich's team believes the city is competitive across all criteria, but Germany's Olympic body has also planned for the long game. The bid was deliberately structured to remain viable for 2040 and 2044 as well, allowing Munich to refine and resubmit if this cycle does not go its way — though the IOC signaled that competition for future Games will be no less fierce.
Munich will not be alone in chasing the 2036 Summer Olympics. The International Olympic Committee announced on Tuesday that seven nations—Hungary, Turkey, India, Qatar, South Korea, South Africa, and Germany—have formally entered the bidding process. More countries could still join before the October 31 deadline closes. The field of potential host cities likely includes Budapest, Istanbul, Doha, and Ahmedabad, though the IOC has not confirmed which specific municipalities each nation will put forward.
Munich secured Germany's nomination late in September after a domestic vote by the German Olympic Sports Confederation. The city defeated a rival bid from the Cologne/Rhine-Ruhr region to earn the right to represent the country. This will be Munich's first Olympic bid since it hosted the Summer Games in 1972—a Games remembered for the Munich massacre, which killed eleven Israeli athletes and coaches and a German police officer during a hostage crisis.
The selection process unfolds over three years. All bidders are currently in what the IOC calls the Continuous Dialogue stage, during which they refine their proposals and build relationships with Olympic officials. In November, candidates will present their plans virtually to the IOC's Future Host Commission. The IOC will then spend several months evaluating the submissions before announcing a shortlist in March 2027. Those selected will advance to the Strategic Dialogue stage, where they will work more closely with Olympic leadership to strengthen their bids.
A Targeted Dialogue phase is scheduled for 2028, narrowing the field further. The IOC will make its final decision at its summer session in 2029. The entire timeline gives bidding cities roughly three years to prove they can deliver the Games—a compressed schedule compared to earlier Olympic selection processes, reflecting the IOC's effort to streamline how it chooses hosts.
The IOC will judge each bid on what it calls "technical factors": the master plan for competition venues and athlete accommodations, the financing strategy, evidence of political and public backing, the capacity to actually execute the event, and a sustainability plan. IOC President Kirsty Coventry, a former Olympic swimmer who won gold medals for Zimbabwe in 2004 and 2008, emphasized that athletes must remain central to the evaluation. "The experience you have when you finally reach the Olympic Games stays with you for the rest of your life," she said, arguing that delivering the best possible athlete experience must be every host city's starting point.
Munich's bid team believes the city is well-positioned across all these criteria. But the German Olympic Sports Confederation has also hedged its bets. The Munich proposal was designed not just for 2036 but with 2040 and 2044 in mind as well. If Munich loses this round, it can recycle and refine its bid for the next two Olympic cycles, though it will face similarly crowded competition each time. The IOC indicated that numerous other National Olympic Committees are already in preliminary talks about hosting the Games in years beyond 2036, suggesting the competition for future Olympics will remain intense.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Athletes have to be at the heart of everything we do. The experience you have when you finally reach the Olympic Games stays with you for the rest of your life.— IOC President Kirsty Coventry
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