The German Olympic Committee has officially announced the city of Hamburg as its impending bid for the 2024 Olympics, pending a German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) ratification on March 21st.
Hamburg beat out rival Berlin, which was also in contention, with 64% of its approximate constituents in support of an Olympic bid, compared to to 55% of Berliners showing support of their own city as the top choice (Reuters). Additionally, 18 of Germany’s 33 top sports federations chose Hamburg as its city of choice for the Olympic bid over just 11 for the capital.
Hamburg is a port city of approximately 1.79 million, situated towards the north of the country, which DOSB chairman Alfons Hoermann cites as its strength. “Hamburg offers a fascinating and compact concept,” Hoermann told the Associated Press. “A northern German and northern European metropolitan region which would succeed in making the jump over the river Elbe for long-term urban development.”
Although the city of Hamburg itself has never hosted an Olympics, Berlin held the 1936 edition, while Munich hosted the 1972 Olympic Games. Boston, Rome and potentially Paris are among the candidates hoping to be granted the honor of playing host to the 2024 Games.
September 15th is the deadline by which any and all cities wishing to be considered by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) must formally put forth their bid. The IOC will then decide on the one and only host city in the year 2017.
Unfortunately my hometown of Hamburg won’t host the 2014 Olympic Summer Games.
Meanwhile, I am very excited about my new hometown of Los Angles being a top contender for the 2024 Summer Games!
It was LA that allowed me to fulfill my American Dream. I was a USC recruit in the 1990’s, and I ultimately received a full athletic scholarship from UCLA.