Copenhagen chips in for 2024 Olympic events
You may be able to watch a biking race or some other Olympic events in Copenhagen in 2024 - at least if the mayor of Copenhagen gets his way.
Copenhagen’s sister-city to the south, Hamburg in Germany, is making a formal bid for the summer Olympics in 2024 - and Copenhagen wants in, too.
The mayor of Copenhagen, Frank Jensen, said he is already in dialogue with Hamburg’s mayor about helping out and holding some of the events in Copenhagen.
“I have already talked to the mayor of Hamburg, Olaf Scholz, about this possibility and there will be many more discussions during the coming years,” Jensen told Politiken, according to Ritzau.
Copenhagen will not make a formal bid to become a co-host, but rather would want to hold some of the events in the city, according to Ritzau.
Biking and handball
Copenhagen would be particularly interested in host events in cycling, which is considered one of the national sports in Denmark.
“It could for example be a biking race, either indoors or outdoors. We can also offer to host football and handball games as we are building the brand new arena, ‘Copenhagen Royal Arena’,” Jensen told Politiken.
Handball is also huge in Germany as well as Scandinavia. The Danes even claim they invented the game with the first set of rules published in 1906. The European championship in handball also made Denmark’s top-ten list of Google search terms in 2014.
“Both in Northern Germany and Denmark, there is a huge interest in handball. It’s therefore natural to think along those lines. But all of this we will discuss with the city council of Hamburg,” Jensen told Politiken.
Connecting two countries
But the sports arena is not the only thing that Copenhagen is building these days, or at least is planning to build.
Preparations have started for a 19-kilometers-long tunnel project called “Femern,” which will connect southern Denmark with Northern Germany. This is another reason why is it particularly tempting for Copenhagen to latch onto the Olympics if they were to be held nearby.
The “Femern”-tunnel will replace today’s ferry and will serve both cars and trains. It will considerably shorten the travelling time, not only from Denmark, but also from all of the Nordic countries down to Europe.
The project has, however, had some bumps in the road recently, particularly from the German side. The plan is to have the tunnel ready just in time for the Olympics in 2024.
The last time the Olympics were held in in Europe, was in London in 2012. In 2016, Rio de Janeiro will be the host city, followed by Tokyo in 2020.
Comments
See Also
Copenhagen’s sister-city to the south, Hamburg in Germany, is making a formal bid for the summer Olympics in 2024 - and Copenhagen wants in, too.
The mayor of Copenhagen, Frank Jensen, said he is already in dialogue with Hamburg’s mayor about helping out and holding some of the events in Copenhagen.
“I have already talked to the mayor of Hamburg, Olaf Scholz, about this possibility and there will be many more discussions during the coming years,” Jensen told Politiken, according to Ritzau.
Copenhagen will not make a formal bid to become a co-host, but rather would want to hold some of the events in the city, according to Ritzau.
Biking and handball
Copenhagen would be particularly interested in host events in cycling, which is considered one of the national sports in Denmark.
“It could for example be a biking race, either indoors or outdoors. We can also offer to host football and handball games as we are building the brand new arena, ‘Copenhagen Royal Arena’,” Jensen told Politiken.
Handball is also huge in Germany as well as Scandinavia. The Danes even claim they invented the game with the first set of rules published in 1906. The European championship in handball also made Denmark’s top-ten list of Google search terms in 2014.
“Both in Northern Germany and Denmark, there is a huge interest in handball. It’s therefore natural to think along those lines. But all of this we will discuss with the city council of Hamburg,” Jensen told Politiken.
Connecting two countries
But the sports arena is not the only thing that Copenhagen is building these days, or at least is planning to build.
Preparations have started for a 19-kilometers-long tunnel project called “Femern,” which will connect southern Denmark with Northern Germany. This is another reason why is it particularly tempting for Copenhagen to latch onto the Olympics if they were to be held nearby.
The “Femern”-tunnel will replace today’s ferry and will serve both cars and trains. It will considerably shorten the travelling time, not only from Denmark, but also from all of the Nordic countries down to Europe.
The project has, however, had some bumps in the road recently, particularly from the German side. The plan is to have the tunnel ready just in time for the Olympics in 2024.
The last time the Olympics were held in in Europe, was in London in 2012. In 2016, Rio de Janeiro will be the host city, followed by Tokyo in 2020.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.