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News from Berlin

Berlin and Hamburg to fight for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games

September 18th, 2014
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News for Berlin – The competition for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games has started and, among others, two German cities have entered the race – Berlin and Hamburg.

The decision as to which of these two cities will enter the fierce competition lies in the hands of the DOSB, the German Olympic Sports Confederation, which will choose between these two cities – the largest in Germany. The DOSB not only decides which city will host the summer Olympics in 10 years, but also if they will be the candidates for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games.

The contests for the summer 2024 Games start next year and the final decision will be made in 2017. But already, on December the 6th, the fight between Berlin and Hamburg will be concluded.

On September 1st, the two cities mayors – Klaus Wowereit, in Berlin, and Olaf Scholz, in Hamburg, answered the questions of the German Olympic Sports League. The thirteen questions asked of them covered areas such as finance, construction, motivation and public support and sustainability.

Following the presentation of the cities’ plans, there will be a vote for all citizens in both cities.

The last time the Olympic Games took place in Germany was in Munich, in 1972. And the only time Berlin hosted the Olympics was in 1936 during the Nazi-ruled period.

Berlin wants to use the old Olympiastadion, which served the controversial 1936 games, as well as a number of other old venues. Also, there are plans to use the land of Tegel Airport which by this time should be shut down and replaced by Berlin-Brandenburg airport, which is currently under construction. Berlin would spend €250 million on upscaling fifteen existing sports facilities, and €1 billion building the new ones for Olympics.

The other cities which will potentially participate in the bid are Los Angeles, Boston, Paris and Istanbul  – which lost the contest for Tokyo for the 2020 Olympic Games –, Rome and Budapest. Next Summer, the Olympic Games take place in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

News from Berlin – Berlin Global