Copenhagen Municipality’s 2025 budget includes a large fund set aside to look into the viability of a future Olympic Games bid.
Presenting the 2025 budget on Monday, the city government said that next year’s financial plan includes half a million kroner allocated for a preliminary study which will explore the possibility of bringing the Olympics to Copenhagen.
The Danish capital also confirmed it will submit an official bid to host the Youth Olympic Games.
"My vision is for us to have the smallest and most sustainable Olympics ever," Mia Nyegaard, the city’s elected official for Culture and Leisure, said in a press release accompanying the budget.
The 2028 and 2032 editions of the Olympics have already been awarded to Los Angeles and Brisbane respectively, meaning a Danish bid would be for 2036 at the earliest. The Youth Olympics could take place as soon as 2030.
Nyegaard attended this summer's Olympics in Paris with the aim of learning more about the possibility of having archery events at Nyhavn, placing an Olympic village on a cruise ship in Copenhagen’s harbour, and constructing a removable and reusable Olympic stadium.
"I dream of bringing the Olympics to Copenhagen because I believe it can inspire many people to do their best. But also to showcase everything we are capable of in Denmark when it comes to organising sports events," Nyegaard said during her visit to the Paris Olympics, as reported by DR.
Hosting the Olympics in Copenhagen would take years of planning and lobbying for the project to ever become a reality.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) requires a financial guarantee from the central government before it considers a bid – something Copenhagen is not certain to be given.
During the Olympics, Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt told DR that such a guarantee is not a straightforward matter.
"An Olympics costs an enormous amount of money stretching into the billions of kroner, and I’m not going to promise that we can easily manage it," he said at the time.
Denmark won nine medals at the Paris Olympics, including two golds. The Paralympics, which concluded on Sunday, saw Denmark take home ten medals, including two golds.
Comments