With the award for the German Olympic candidate Munich, the Free State of Saxony is also out of the race. The canoe slalom park in Markkleeberg near Leipzig, like the Rostock-Warnemünde sailing location, was part of the Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr bid for the 2036, 2040 or 2044 Summer Games.
"The decision has been made and we congratulate the winner," said Leipzig's mayor Burkhard Jung in a press release and added: "We will still continue to develop our sports infrastructure concepts and apply for major international sporting events."
Munich was also considered the favorite. DOSB auditors considered the Munich concept to be the most suitable even before the vote, as shown by an assessment by the evaluation commission. Munich's proposal performed slightly better than that of its opponent Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr. With the exception of football games in Stuttgart and the sailing competitions in Kiel, all competitions will take place in Bavaria.
As with the 1972 Olympics, Munich is planning the canoe slalom course in Augsburg. The traditional ice track was renovated for around 21 million euros from April 2018 to spring 2022 in time for the 2022 World Cup to mark the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Olympic Games. The complex has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2019. Despite the extensive renovation, the ice channel struggles with the falling water levels of the Lech in summer droughts. The city of Augsburg therefore decided to build two regulatory structures (weirs) at the end of 2025 in order to secure the water supply and training operations in the long term in the coming years.
The canoe park in Markkleeberg was part of the Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr application and also the withdrawn Berlin application. Even in Leipzig's bid for the 2012 Olympic Games, which then went to London, the modern route was included in the Olympic planning. The construction of the second route in Germany suitable for a World Cup was decided in 2001 and the groundbreaking ceremony took place in April 2005. The whitewater canal on Lake Markkleeberger near Leipzig was opened in April 2007. The federal government funded the construction with around 4.9 million euros. “We are still tackling the planned investments in the canoe park and our next goal is to host world championships in Markkleeberg,” said Markkleeberg’s mayor Karsten Schütze.
Leipzig's sports mayor and Olympic representative Heiko Rosenthal wants to continue investing in sports facilities regardless of Baden-Baden's decision. “The Olympic bid has given Leipzig the opportunity to initiate necessary investments more quickly. This applies in particular to the further development of the sports forum with the QUARTERBACK Immobilien ARENA and the planned ball sports hall. We have not reinvented Olympic projects, but rather they correspond to the needs of Leipzig sport. The projects remain important for the sports city of Leipzig.”
