2036 Olympics host set to be picked in 2029 as IOC confirms timetable for contest

Advertisement

Advertise with us

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The IOC set a target of 2029 on Wednesday to pick a 2036 Olympics host in a currently stalled contest that has long been targeted by India and Qatar.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The IOC set a target of 2029 on Wednesday to pick a 2036 Olympics host in a currently stalled contest that has long been targeted by India and Qatar.

The timetable agreed at a meeting of the full International Olympic Committee membership is a reset under president, Kirsty Coventry, after 2028 Summer Games host Los Angeles and 2032 host Brisbane were chosen 11 years in advance.

It brings back a competitive vote wanted by members after L.A. and Brisbane were effectively chosen without facing a rival candidate. The 2024 Olympics host Paris was picked with the traditional seven years to prepare in 2017, when L.A. stood aside as a rival to be given the 2028 edition uncontested.

FILE - IOC President Kirsty Coventry speaks during the Olympic opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Yves Herman/Pool Photo via AP, file)
FILE - IOC President Kirsty Coventry speaks during the Olympic opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Yves Herman/Pool Photo via AP, file)

The strategic shift has been a defining move in Coventry’s presidency that formally started exactly one year ago when she succeeded Thomas Bach.

At least 10 potential Summer Games bids for 2036 and beyond had been in ongoing talks with the IOC when Coventry pressed pause on the process in the first big decision of her presidency.

Detailing the new timetable, IOC member Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said the contest should take shape in March next year.

The IOC’s executive board will pick an official short list for “deeper evaluation of a number of interested parties with developed projects,” said Grabar-Kitarović, the former state president of Croatia.

“We talked of more than 10, so now it is becoming a bit more clear,” she told reporters later, with the IOC looking to be transparent and this year publish a list of interested parties. That could be around eight bidders.

A target of late-2028 was set to begin a “targeted dialogue” phase with bidders, when their governments will be required to give legal and financial guarantees.

The 2036 host election is set to be at the IOC Session expected in mid-2029 at a venue yet to be decided.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry, speaks during the 146th Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the SwissTech Convention Centre, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP)
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry, speaks during the 146th Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the SwissTech Convention Centre, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP)

Qatar is expected to be a strong candidate after hosting world championships in many top-tier Olympic supports including track and field, gymnastics, swimming, soccer and cycling.

An Olympics anchored in Doha also could share some events with regional neighbors.

___

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

Storylines aplenty as Jets’ regular season set to begin

Ken Wiebe and Mike McIntyre 9 minute read Preview

Storylines aplenty as Jets’ regular season set to begin

Ken Wiebe and Mike McIntyre 9 minute read Yesterday at 6:25 PM CDT

If the Winnipeg Jets get their way over the course of the coming months, this 84-game redemption tour will extend beyond the regular season.

For the time being, the focus of this group is to leave the disappointment of a 26th-place finish in the rearview mirror and to get back to playing the style that allowed them to be in the Stanley Cup playoffs three consecutive springs before falling eight points short last April.

“We’re just ready for a fresh start where we’re looking ahead, and we’re excited to get the season underway,” captain Adam Lowry said Thursday. “Obviously, a short training camp but I feel like we got up to speed.”

The Boston Bruins will be Friday’s opponent (7 p.m.) in this 16th season opener for the Jets since the franchise relocated back in 2011, and the storylines surrounding the club are plentiful.

Read
Yesterday at 6:25 PM CDT

Port of Churchill signs agreement with Dutch port

Aaron Epp 2 minute read Preview

Port of Churchill signs agreement with Dutch port

Aaron Epp 2 minute read Tuesday, Sep. 29, 2026

Arctic Gateway Group, operator of the Port of Churchill, has signed an agreement with the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands to attract business and strengthen supply chains linking Western Canada and Europe.

The agreement enables the two ports to work together to develop new trade in critical minerals and energy products, connect Canadian producers with European buyers, and identify opportunities to improve the supply chain from Western Canadian resource projects through Churchill and into European markets.

The Port of Rotterdam is Europe’s largest port and home to more than 3,000 businesses across its industrial complex, serving as a major gateway for critical raw materials and energy.

Meanwhile, the Port of Churchill has been identified as a transformative national strategy for Canada and is emerging as a northern trade corridor connecting Western Canada’s resources to global markets.

Read
Tuesday, Sep. 29, 2026

Dynacare workers provide essential services that must be maintained during strike, labour board rules

Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Preview

Dynacare workers provide essential services that must be maintained during strike, labour board rules

Nicole Buffie 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 6:30 PM CDT

The Manitoba Labour Board has ruled Dynacare workers are essential employees and their services must be maintained during a labour dispute.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 6:30 PM CDT

Face up to fact you blew it with ex-wife

Maureen Scurfield 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: My ex-wife just moved back to town and looks like a changed woman. She spent years married to me, and our kids just graduated in a city where we once lived together. That was without help from me, other than minor financial stuff.

She has found a great new job back in Winnipeg and she’ll do very well. I admire her more than any other woman I ever met, but she’s not interested in me at all.

I once had a solid, responsible job and then got into drinking, and I cheated on her. That’s why she left town. Now I’ve been sober and sorry for many years.

I asked her last weekend if I could take her out to dinner and she said no and changed the subject.

Puzzles Palace

1 minute read Monday, Jul. 27, 2026

To solve our puzzles, please subscribe with this special offer: |

Ferraro gets call-up to the Jets

Mike McIntyre 6 minute read Preview

Ferraro gets call-up to the Jets

Mike McIntyre 6 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 30, 2026

Landon Ferraro vividly recalls the moment his NHL career came to an extremely painful end — Oct. 20, 2017, in downtown Winnipeg.

“My last play was a breakaway on Connor Hellebuyck,” Ferraro told the Free Press this week.

“I tried to poke the puck past the first D. It was me and (Dustin) Byfuglien chasing it down. I thought he was going to throw me across the ice, so I tried to cut in on him, and he moved. I overextended, and I literally ripped my abductor off the bone and gave myself a hernia.”

Ferraro — at the time playing forward for the visiting Minnesota Wild — said he managed to get off a weak shot that hit the Jets goaltender square in the chest. But his 77th appearance in the big leagues would be his last following previous stops with Detroit (which drafted him 32nd overall in 2009) and Boston.

Read
Wednesday, Sep. 30, 2026