Seoul kicks off ANOC General Assembly, expresses hope for hosting 2036 Summer Olympics

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is to ramp up its drive for hosting international sports events in the future, including the 2036 Summer Olympics.

Seoul is currently hosting the 26th General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees, which runs until Friday, and the city government aims to use the event as a springboard for its 2036 bid.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon will also meet with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach on Thursday and deliver Seoul’s intention to host the 2036 Summer Games.

In 2021, Seoul sent a proposal for co-hosting the 2032 Olympics with North Korea‘s Pyongyang to the International Olympic Committee. But, the city government's efforts to co-host, which started during former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon’s term, ended with little progress.

Since the plan to co-host fell short, the Seoul city government reviewed options for hosting the 2036 Olympics alone.

The Seoul city government said it would gear up its overall efforts to introduce Seoul as a potential candidate for international sports events in the future. “The general assembly is the first step to promote itself as an international sport city, as well as a global channel for sports diplomacy,“ it said.

The ANOC General Assembly is a meeting of representatives of 205 National Olympic Committees around the globe. The event this year is expected to invite some 800 people including officials from the ANOC, as well as sports leaders from around the world.

Included in the sports leaders are IOC President Bach, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and ANOC acting President Robin Mitchell.

An executive committee meeting will be held Tuesday, which will be followed by main meetings of the General Assembly between Wednesday and Thursday. A press conference is also scheduled for Thursday, while an election for the next ANOC chief and leadership group will be held this week.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)