From Craig Lord at State of Swimming+
Manchester is considering a Great Britain bid for the 2036 Olympic Games, the Sunday Times revealed at the weekend, through a project called The Great North, a collaboration that includes the Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham.
He has written to Lisa Nandy, the UK culture (and sports secretary), calling for a commitment to any future UK Olympic bid being based in the north.
The 2036 Olympics bidding process is currently in a “continuous dialogue” phase, as the IOC puts it. Interested bidders include India, Qatar, Turkey, and Chile, so far. There is not fixed, traditional timeline, though a host city is expected to be selected by the IOC sometime in 2027 or 2028, with 2030 the deadline for a choice to be made.
London mayor Sadiq Khan has also expressed his wish to see the Games return to the British capital and has asked the UK government for “clarity of intent” and a decision to support a feasibility study. That would be part of any actual bid for the 2036 or 2040 Games.
Burnham is opposed to a London bid, which “wouldn’t be fair or right”, he told The Times, adding that a northern bid is “what Britain needs right now”.
All Olympics Britain has ever held have been staged in London, in 1908, 1948, and 2012.
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