Munich versus Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr: duel for Germany's Olympic bid for 2036/2040/2044

Munich against Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr - the race for the German candidate for an Olympic bid for 2036, 2040 or 2044 is now just a duel. Munich is considered the favorite ahead of the decision today (from 1:45 p.m./ARD) at the extraordinary general meeting of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) in the Kurhaus Baden-Baden. But North Rhine-Westphalia can also score points in various areas. These are the strengths and weaknesses before the secret vote by the 42 Olympic umbrella associations, eight personal members and the ten presidium members of the DOSB.

That speaks for Munich

In its concept, Munich relies on short distances and the majority of events in the city. With the Olympic Park and renovated stadium built for 1972, there is already a core of the games that is tailor-made for major events. This was shown by the European Athletics Championships in 2022 and the World Cup award for 2031. Almost all competition venues are available, and there is great support from politicians around Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU). In the referendum, 66.42 percent voted in favor of the games. Internationally, Munich is better known as the Rhine-Ruhr. In the DOSB evaluation, Munich clearly performed best among the professional associations, which are now entitled to vote with a total of 126 out of 144 possible votes. The deciding factor could be the representatives of the winter sports associations, who are more likely to lean towards Bavaria.

That speaks for Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr

NRW advertises with the most spectacular, compact and sustainable games and relies on the existing infrastructure and a high density of sometimes spectacular sports venues - such as swimming at Schalke, basketball in the Düsseldorf Arena or football in the stadium in Dortmund. Only a temporary athletics stadium and the Olympic Village in Cologne are to be built, which will later provide living space for around 10,000 people. Up to 17.6 million tickets are expected to ensure record crowds. The region also has a lot of experience in hosting major international events. This year, among other things, the Equestrian World Championships took place in Aachen. The application received approval of 66 percent in the municipalities involved.

That speaks against Munich

In Munich, the Olympic supporters and top politicians may already be too confident of victory. The most recent two applications went wrong: the race for the 2018 Winter Games was clearly defeated by South Korea's Pyeongchang, and citizens then rejected the 2022 Olympics in a survey. According to the DOSB evaluation, Munich is weaker than Rhine-Ruhr in terms of ticket potential. And perhaps the voters from East Germany will also punish Munich, which chose Kiel as a sailing area. The East is completely left out. NRW, on the other hand, chose Rostock-Warnemünde and, for canoeing, the Markkleeberg whitewater facility near Leipzig - and thus two competition venues in eastern German federal states.

That speaks against Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr

There were concerns early on that the Rhine-Ruhr might not be sufficiently well known internationally as a location. The Olympic organizers therefore placed Cologne at the center of the application. Nevertheless, the location's image remains rather mediocre. The routes that were actually planned for a short time could also prove to be problematic in practice: NRW is considered the most congested federal state, and there are also frequent delays on the rails. Critics doubt that the athletes will be able to reach their competition venues from the Olympic Village in less than an hour - as promised. In addition, some sports facilities are located away from large cities - for example in Aachen, Gelsenkirchen or Mönchengladbach.