Mexico City launches 2036 Olympic bid

Mexico City has their eyes on the Olympics yet again as they have launched an official bid to host the 2036 Summer Olympics. Mexico’s foreign ministry and their National Olympic Committee (COM) made the announcement in a joint statement on Wednesday.

The next step is to announce a promotion committee on November 30, followed by assessments to determine the host cities.

COM President Maria Jose Alcala said Mexico City has been on the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) radar since July when they told IOC President Thomas Bach of their intentions to bid for 2036.

“We see ourselves as a successful and ambitious country. We are the only country that will host three FIFA World Cups (Mexico will host in 2026 along with Canada and the United States), we are a vigorous country with one of the best economies in the world,” said Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard.

Not everyone is Mexico is on board with an Olympic bid though. Ana Gabriela Guevara, who won a silver medal in athletics in Athens 2004 and is now the Director of Mexico’s National Sports Commission said it was “economically unfeasible” to host the Olympics.

Ebrard insists the infrastructure is already in place for 2036 and the government will only need to contribute 10 percent of the total expenses. The price tag to host the last Summer Olympics in Tokyo 2020 was around $13 billion.

“We will initiate the studies requested by the IOC to take into account the changes that have taken place in the Olympic Games financing. There is no bond to be paid in the process,” he said. “We would have 15 years, enough time to organize it. If Mexico proposes something, it is to achieve it.”