NOlympia for Hamburg – what does that mean for Kiel’s yes?
Last Sunday Hamburg’s residents voted against an Olympic application for their city and their mayor officially took back Hamburg’s Olympic application. As a result, Kiel lost the only candidate who had formally committed to Kiel as their sailing location.
Kiel also lost all chances on hosting the handball and rugby competitions, as they were part of their official deal with Hamburg. But there might be still a chance for hosting the sailing competition as the other applicants Munich and Rhine-Ruhr sent positive signals.
However, as neither Munich and Rhine-Ruhr have officially chosen a partner city, they both could still follow Berlin and choose Rostock-Warnemünde as partner for the sailing competitions.
Nevertheless, according by media reports Schleswig-Holstein’s minister president Günther stated that the city continues to work toward Olympic and Paralympic Games in which Kiel plays a hosting role — a relief for the 63.5% of Kiel residents who voted yes.
The three remaining candidates – Berlin, Munich and Rhine-Ruhr – must submit their final concept to the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) by June 4th. The DOSB review commission evaluates all final concepts based on international competitiveness and economic viability. As the sailing location is part of the concepts, the DOSB is allowed to raise objections on the proposed sailing locations by the candidates. The final decision on the hosting city for the sailing events will be made in consultation with the German Sailing Association.
The final decision on the German Olympic candidate will be made by the DOSB General Assembly in Baden-Baden on September 26th. Afterwards the chosen application will be sent to the International Olympic committee (IOC). Other than Germany, European countries like Hungary with Budapest, Spain with Madrid, and Turkey with Istanbul expressed interest in hosting the Olympic Games.
