The Olympic organizers in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia achieved a clear majority in a vote on an application for the summer games.
April 20, 2026, 05:10April 20, 2026, 05:10
According to Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU), around two thirds in 16 of the 17 cities voted for the “Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr” region to run for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2036, 2040 or 2044.
NRW wants to bring the Olympic Games to Germany. (symbol image)Image: keystone
A total of around 1.4 million people took part in the vote, which is around a third of those eligible to take part. Only in Herten was the required quorum missed. “I am thrilled with these results,” said Wüst before the end of the counting, which continued into the night in Cologne.
The NRW concept relies on existing sports facilities and wants to avoid new buildings. A temporary athletics stadium and an athletes’ village are planned for the “Leading City” of Cologne.
The overall result in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) only took into account those municipalities in which the required number of residents took part in the vote and in which a majority voted in favor of participation.
Cologne’s mayor: Now convince critics
Criticism came from the “NOlympia Cologne” alliance: “The people in most cities were not reached by the emotional campaign, especially when you consider how much money the cities, the state and private companies spent on it,” it said in a statement. In addition, the opponents of the Olympics consider the organizational costs of 4.8 billion euros estimated by Prime Minister Wüst to be significantly too low.
Cologne’s mayor Torsten Burmester (SPD) emphasized: “This decision has shown how much power there is in an application for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The trend clearly shows a majority for these games.” It is now also important to convince the critics in order to support the application with the broadest possible majority.
Competition from Munich, Hamburg and Berlin
Approval of the application is not yet a decision for the Summer Games in North Rhine-Westphalia. At the same time, Munich, Hamburg and Berlin are also applying for a location. Munich’s project had already achieved an unexpectedly clear two-thirds majority in a vote in autumn 2025. Hamburg will vote at the end of May, Berlin will not make such a decision.
The German Olympic Sports Confederation will decide on the German applicant on September 26th. The International Olympic Committee will probably not make a decision on the venue for the 2036 Summer Games until 2027 at the earliest. Qatar, India and South Africa are considered interested parties. The 2028 Olympic Games will take place in Los Angeles and Brisbane will host in 2032. (sda/dpa)