The German Olympic Sports Confederation, or DOSB, has officially selected Munich to represent the country in its international bid to host the 2036, 2040 or 2044 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games.
At the Extraordinary General Assembly of the DOSB in Baden-Baden, Baden-Württemberg, over the weekend, it was confirmed that the Bavarian capital had fended off competition from the western Rhine/Ruhr region to be endorsed as Germany’s potential host city representative. After one round of voting, Munich secured 64.91 percent of the vote, with 91 votes in total compared to Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr with 50.
All 42 German Olympic federations were eligible to vote, with each having up to three votes, as were the 10 members of the DOSB Presidium and eight individual members.
A bid from Berlin had been withdrawn last week prior to the vote after Elif Eralp, who secured victory for the socialist Left Party in the Berlin state elections, refused to support it. Hamburg also pulled out in May after failing to secure support in a citywide referendum.
Should the IOC choose Munich as a host city for one of the upcoming Olympic/Paralympic Games editions, it would bring the Games back to Germany (and the city) for the first time since 1972, when the Games were marred by tragedy.
The city also previously failed in its bids to host the 2018 and 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
Munich’s Olympic Vision
The DOSB was ultimately swayed by Munich’s vision to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is underpinned by the short distances between venues, relying mainly on existing sports facilities.
In 1972, events staged in Munich’s Olympiapark included the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, athletics (track and field), equestrian team jumping, football (soccer), modern pentathlon, gymnastics, handball, swimming, diving, water polo, boxing, judo, track cycling, hockey (field hockey) and volleyball.
Next time around, close to half of all events would take place within the park, which features the Olympic Stadium (Olympiastadion), Olympic Sports Hall (Olympiahalle/Sporthalle), Swimming Hall (Schwimmhalle), Boxing Hall (Boxhalle), Cycling Stadium (Radstadion), Hockey Facility (Hockeyanlage), Volleyball Hall (Volleyballhalle) and the adjacent Olympic Village (Olympisches Dorf). Furthermore, 90 percent of the sports facilities are located within a radius of less than 30 kilometers from the Olympic Village.
Other city landmarks such as the English Garden, Nymphenburg Palace and Ordensplatz have also been quoted as potential locations for Olympic/Paralympic competition in future years, with the aim to bring the Games to the heart of Munich.
Sustainability and the long-term legacy of the Games are also seen as central components of Munich’s bid. After the Games, the Olympic and Paralympic Village would become a climate-neutral, accessible multigenerational neighborhood for more than 10,000 people, according to plans already drawn up.
If the bid is successful, it would give the city a chance to improve upon its Olympic legacy, which was forever tarnished by the terrorist acts that resulted in the murder of 11 Israeli athletes in 1972.
On a broader scale, the Confederation sees potentially hosting the Games as a much-needed opportunity to unite Germany amid a range of national challenges, such as social division, economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, and as a driving force for health, education, integration, participation and social cohesion.
“Today is a good day for German sports,” said DOSB President Thomas Weikert. “At the end of the national selection process, Munich has emerged as a very strong candidate whose bid has most convincingly won over the German sports community. Now a new chapter begins: Together with Munich, we will take the next step and represent Germany in the international competition for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
“I am very pleased that we not only convinced the people of Munich with our concept last year, but also the whole of sports Germany today,” said Munich Lord Mayor Dominik Krause. “I would also like to thank the other applicants for their fair treatment in recent months. Only together can we win and create a new spirit of optimism throughout the country.”
Host City Selection Process
The International Olympic Committee is expected to announce the host city for the 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games by mid-2029. The IOC typically announces the host city between seven and 11 years before the Games take place, so it will likely take longer to announce the 2040 and 2044 hosts.
The formal selection process is set to get underway in March 2027, when the IOC will shortlist interested bidders to enter a formal “strategic dialogue” phase. From there, preferred candidate cities will engage with the IOC in targeted dialogue to outline their legal and financial guarantees, and the final selection and announcement will be scheduled during the annual IOC session.
As part of the IOC’s drive to increase transparency, it is reforming the Olympic/Paralympic Games host selection process by establishing a fixed, clearer timetable and adding a formal shortlisting phase. This means that shortlisted candidate cities must answer a Future Host Questionnaire and provide core legal and financial guarantees earlier in the selection process, including complete venue master plans and infrastructure/transport provisions, to progress to the next stage.
India (Ahmedabad), Qatar (Doha), Türkiye (Istanbul), Indonesia (Nusantara) and Chile (Santiago) have all openly expressed their ambitions to host the 2036 Games, or future editions. Likewise, Great Britain (North of England) and Poland are assessing their options to bid the 2040 or 2044 editions, while the likes of Egypt, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Mexico, Hungary, Italy, Denmark, Canada and Russia have all been linked with potential bid proposals.
Other Events in Munich
In recent weeks, Munich has also been awarded two other major sporting events in the coming years.
The Munich Football Arena (otherwise known as the Allianz Arena) will host the 2028 UEFA Champions League final, marking the third time that the venue will have hosted the competition’s pinnacle, after 2012 and 2025 respectively.
The city itself will be hosting the final for the sixth time in its history (including when it was previously known as the European Cup). On all five occasions so far, a new winner of the competition has been crowned — Nottingham Forest (1979), Olympique de Marseille (1993), Borussia Dortmund (1997), Chelsea (2012) and Paris Saint-Germain (2025).
Meanwhile, World Athletics confirmed that the Bavarian capital would stage the 2031 World Athletics Championships at Munich’s Olympic Stadium. Alongside Nairobi’s successful bid to become the Championships’ first African host city in 2029, they beat off competition from London and Rome.
It will be Munich’s first time hosting the Championships, following in the footsteps of Stuttgart (1993) and Berlin (2009) that brought the event to Germany. The bid for the 2031 edition was estimated to be worth €123 million ($142 million).
Furthermore, the Olympiapark is due to host the second edition of Loop One, the International Biathlon Union’s biathlon season-opening festival on roller skis, from October 17—18, 2026.
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