Coventry 'pauses' '36 Oly bid process, India meeting on

DAYS after new International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Kirsty Coventry took charge, an Indian delegation is set to reach Lausanne for a meeting to discuss its 2036 Olympics bid.

- INDRANEEL DAS @Chennai

The new IOC president said as much during a webinar after two days of Pause and Reflect meeting of the Executive Board that ended on Thursday. "I am aware that an Indian delegation will be here next week for a meeting," she told media on Thursday.

However, as for selecting the hosts, Coventry said the process would be re-evaluated. It was earlier believed that the 2036 Olympic host would be announced next year but it might take time.

She said that after discussing with the IOC members, she felt that some kind of reassessment is required and paused the bidding process for the time being. This will affect all those host nations trying to secure the 2036 Games.

As of now there are about eight to 10 bids including those by Indonesia, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Interestingly, Brisbane Olympic Games was announced in 2021, on the sidelines of the Tokyo Games. This was the first host city under the new flexible approach for electing a host city through consultations and dialogues. This also encouraged using existing venues and making the Games and the bid more cost-effective and sustainable.