The day after the closing ceremonies. For me, it’s the single saddest day of every even-numbered year. After two magical weeks setting my schedule around event times, cheering and smiling and reveling in human accomplishment, suddenly there’s nothing. The flame is extinguished, and the world is left with only the memories.

The worst part of the Olympic Games is that they inevitably come to a close. But the best part might be the simple reality that there will always be another. I like to think that the Olympic Games never really end. They just change. Two years on, the fire will burn again, as the youth of the world gathers once more to celebrate the Olympic Games.

The Olympic Movement is forward-thinking. Games are awarded and planned up to a decade in advance. So, as these games draw to a close, let’s take a look at what’s next for the Olympics.

Milan-Cortina 2026

Winter Games

The Games of the XXV Winter Olympiad will take place in Milan and Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy, from 6-22 February, 2026. It will mark the third time Italy has hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the most recent being the games of the XX Olympiad, held in Torino in 2006, twenty years earlier. It will also mark the second time Cortina D’Ampezzo has hosted the Winter Games, having hosted seventy years earlier in 1956.

Milan-Cortina marks a change in the IOC’s criteria for Olympic hosts: for the first time, the committee is allowing regional and multinational bids (previously, the IOC stipulated that bids were limited to a single city in a single country). This is concurrent with the IOC’s new focus on lowering the cost of the Olympic Games. The 2026 Winter Games will take place across Milan, Cortina D’Ampezzo, and seven additional cities across the Italian Alps.

Most of the indoor events, including skating and ice hockey, will take place in Milan and its metropolitan area. The alpine towns, including Cortina, will host skiing and sliding events. While the opening ceremonies will take place in the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in Milan, the closing ceremonies are slated to take place at the Verona Arena: an actual Roman amphitheater built in 30 AD. Few, if any, new venues will need to be constructed for the games, the only exception being a planned permanent or even temporary Olympic oval in Milan to host speed skating events.

Ski mountaineering will make its debut as an Olympic sport. The sport involves competitive mountain climbing on skis, and promises to be an exciting addition to the Olympic Programme.

Los Angeles 2028

Summer Games

The Games of the XXXIV Olympiad will take place in Los Angeles, California, from July 14-30, 2028. It will be the first time the United States has hosted the Olympic Games since 1996 (Atlanta), and the first time it has hosted any Olympics since the 2002 Olympic Winter Games (Salt Lake). Los Angeles will join London and Paris as one of only three cities to have hosted three Olympic Games, having previously hosted in 1932 and 1984.

Los Angeles’s selection as host marked a new trend for the IOC, in which host cities are selected two at a time. LA was one of two candidate cities selected from applicants for the 2024 Olympic Games, along with Paris. After seeing both cities’ presentations, the IOC was so impressed that voting was deadlocked (members from the candidate nations are required to abstain). In the end, a deal was struck: Paris was awarded the 2024 Games, while Los Angeles was given 2028.

Los Angeles’s bid was so highly-regarded partly due to their number of existing venues. All of the venues used in the 1984 games remain not only standing but in use, and have thus been routinely renovated and upgraded. The city’s many pro sports teams and its two major universities also provide a range of potential venues for baseball, basketball, and soccer. Soccer games, for instance, are expected to be held at BMO Stadium (home of LAFC) and the Rose Bowl (home of the UCLA Bruins football team), basketball games will take place at Crypto.com Arena (home of the Lakers) and the Intuit Dome (home of the Clippers), while Dodger Stadium has been proposed as a baseball venue. The Olympic Village and Press Village will be located on the campuses of UCLA and USC, respectively, just as they were in 1984.

Unlike Paris 2024, LA 2028 is expected to return to the standard stadium-centric format of the Olympic Games. Opening Ceremonies will be held in SoFi Stadium (home of the LA Rams and Chargers of the NFL), which will also host swimming events. Athletics events, and the closing ceremonies, will be held in Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Located on USC’s campus, the stadium will become the first in history to be used in three Olympic Games.

After having been absent in Paris in 2024, baseball and softball will return to the Olympics in Los Angeles. Cricket, lacrosse, squash, and flag football will also make their debuts as Olympic sports.

French Alps 2030

Winter Games

The Games of the XXVI Winter Olympiad will take place in the French Alps from 8-24 February 2030. It will mark the fourth time France has hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the most recent being the 1992 Games, which were held in Albertville.

Following in the footsteps of Milan-Cortina, these games will take place across a region of France, rather than a single city. The Games will be centered on the city of Nice, which will host most indoor events, including skating, ice hockey, and curling. The sole exception will be long-track speedskating, which will be held at the Oval Lingotto in Torino, Italy. This will mark the first time an Olympic Games held events in multiple countries (ironically, the Oval Lingotto, originally built for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, was offered as a venue for Milan-Cortina, but was rejected by regional Italian organizers). Skiing and sliding events will take place across a number of towns across the Savoie and La Plagne regions of the French Alps.

At the moment, the 2030 Games remain in the early planning phase; a venue for the opening and closing ceremonies hasn’t yet been selected (though Allianz Riviera in Nice is a likely venue; it hosted several soccer matches during the 2024 Summer Games). Thus, there is no official word yet on any new sports that may debut.

Brisbane 2032

Summer Games

The Games of the XXXV Olympiad will take place in Brisbane, Australia, from 23 July to 8 August 2032. It will mark the third time Australia has hosted the Olympic Games, having hosted in Melbourne in 1956 and Sydney in 2000.

In 2021, Brisbane became the first host city selected for the Olympics under the IOC’s new model. Under this model, the previous system of competitive pitches from candidate cities has been replaced with focused dialogue with the committee, resulting in a single preferred host. Brisbane ultimately beat out several bids, including from Rhineland in Germany, Madrid in Spain, and Jakarta in Indonesia.

Unlike the upcoming Winter Games, Brisbane will continue the tradition of Summer Games hosted within a concise area. Most events will take place in Brisbane and the surrounding region of Queensland, while surfing (and likely beach volleyball) will take place on the nearby Gold Coast. Most events will take place at existing venues, the sole major exception being Brisbane Live: a proposed swimming venue, which will serve as a multipurpose entertainment venue following the games. Opening and closing ceremonies will likely take place at the Gabba: a historic cricket ground and Brisbane’s largest stadium.

As the Brisbane Games are still being planned, there is no word on what sports will be contested beyond the 28 core sports currently on the Olympic Programme. Both cricket and baseball/softball will likely return as optional sports, given their popularity in Australia, and organizers have expressed interest in adding a rugby nines tournament in addition to the existing rugby sevens. Additional sports that have been discussed include disc sports (frisbee) and esports, as well as netball: an indoor sport popular in the UK and Commonwealth nations (like Australia).

As of this writing, the 2032 Olympic Games are the latest Summer Games planned.

Salt Lake 2034

Winter Games

The Games of the XXVI Winter Olympiad will take place in Salt Lake City, Utah, from 10-26 February 2034. It will be the second time Salt Lake City has hosted the Winter Games, having previously hosted in 2002.

As was the case with the 2024 Games, the 2030 and ’34 Winter Games were awarded simultaneously. Unable to choose between two excellent candidates, the IOC awarded the 2030 Games to France and the 2034 Games to the US. As has been the case with most of the recent hosts, the bid’s strength was largely attributed to the use of existing venues. In fact, every event previously held in 2002 will take place at the same venue in 2034. Not only are all of the Olympic venues in Salt Lake City still standing and in good condition, they’ve remained in continuous use since the Games, and will thus require minimal updating to conform to current competitive standards.

As was the case in 2002, the opening and closing ceremonies are set to take place in Rice-Eccles Stadium on the University of Utah’s campus. Home to the Utah Utes football team, the stadium remains in excellent condition, right down to the Olympic cauldron from the 2002 Games. All events will take place in Salt Lake City and its metropolitan area, with the exception of some ice hockey games, which will be held in Provo, Utah (home of Brigham Young University).

Currently, there is no word on any new sports or events that may debut in 2034 (the Games are still a decade off). However, it’s worth noting that snowmobiling is very popular in the United States, and has been a staple of the Winter X-Games for years. Given the IOC’s recent reversal of its ban on motorsports, the 2034 Winter Olympics might be the perfect time for snowmobiling to make its Olympic debut.

As of this writing, 2034 is the furthest extent of the Olympic Programme.

The Future: 2036

Summer Games

The International Olympic Committee has no plans to end the Olympic Games, and is always looking to the future. However, we’re now in uncharted territory; for the first time, the Olympic Programme is planned out for a decade into the future. This puts the IOC in the unusual position of being able to take their time. That said, potential host cities across the world are already looking ahead to 2036, and several bids have already materialized. So, what do we know about the Games of the XXXVI Olympiad so far?

The Games will likely take place somewhere outside Europe or North America

By 2036, five of the previous six Olympic Games (winter and summer) will have taken place in either Europe or the United States. Historically, the IOC has preferred to vary the locations of host cities; as it is, the US and France both hosting multiple Games within a decade of each other is unprecedented under the modern model. The committee prefers variation both to avoid the appearance of favoritism and to shine a light on developing or otherwise overlooked nations.

Though the current trends within the IOC mean a 2036 Games in either Europe or North America isn’t impossible, any viable bid from other parts of the world will likely take precedence.

The Games will likely take place in a nation that has never hosted before

Based on both current confirmed bids and bids confirmed to have been abandoned, the 2036 Games will almost certainly take place in a nation that hasn’t previously hosted the Olympics. Strong bids from Asia and South America have already been put forth.

The Games may be held in the Southern Hemisphere

When Brisbane hosts the Olympics in 2032, it will mark only the fourth time the Games have taken place in the Southern Hemisphere (three of which were in Australia). That’s the sort of lack of representation the Olympic Movement tries to avoid. Given this reality, a strong bid from a city in the Southern Hemisphere will have a good chance of succeeding.

With that in mind, here are a few of the current bids for the 2036 Olympic Games that show promise:

Nusantara, Indonesia

In 2021, the government of Indonesia announced their bid for the 2036 Olympics. Having previously bid for 2032 with the nation’s current capital, Jakarta, the new bid will offer the new capital of Nusantara as the host city.

Indonesia is an island nation off the coast of Southeast Asia. It is a developing country that’s rising in prominence on the world scene. Most of the nation lies south of the equator (making it a Southern Hemisphere nation). If Nusantara is selected, it will become the first Asian city outside of China, Japan, or South Korea to host the Olympics. Indonesia would also become the first Muslim-majority nation to host the Games.

While Nusantara checks a lot of boxes for the IOC, it also carries some serious risks. Though Indonesia’s current president Joko Widodo has played a major role both in the bid and in Indonesia’s rise, he’s also term-limited. The incoming president is currently banned from entering the United States amid allegations of human rights violations. Indonesia’s recent history has also been marred by ethnic and religious tensions, as well as democratic backsliding. Given the recent issues faced by Games held in China and Russia, those issues may be enough to torpedo Indonesia’s bid.

Nonetheless, Indonesia sent a delegation to Paris to observe the organization of the 2024 Olympic Games, and plans to send a similar delegation to Los Angeles in 2028.

Istanbul, Turkey

The former capital of Turkey, Istanbul sits alongside Rome, Cairo, and Beijing as one of the world’s most historic cities. Nestled along the very border of Europe and Asia, Istanbul has served as the seat of empires, and features some of the world’s most impressive examples of Greek, Roman, and Islamic architecture. The imposing edifice at the center of the image above, Hagia Sofia, is a former mosque and church built by the Roman Emperor Justinian.

Given that Rome, London, Paris, and Beijing have all hosted the Olympics (all but Rome having hosted multiple times), the people of Turkey have a right to feel slighted. Istanbul has bid on the Olympic Games multiple times, having lost in 2000 (which went to Sydney), 2008 (Beijing), and 2020 (Tokyo). The good news is that the IOC has a history of rewarding perseverance: Pyeongchang was awarded the 2018 Winter Games after having submitted unsuccessful bids for the previous three. Turkey also has a more established sports culture than Indonesia, and will host the European Games in 2027.

While Turkey considers itself a European nation, that is unlikely to work against their bid. The country lies along the very edge of Europe, and would (like Indonesia) become the first Muslim-majority nation to host the Games. Unfortunately, some of the same concerns that affect Nusantara’s bid affect Istanbul’s as well. Turkey’s current president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (er-doe-wan) is widely viewed as an authoritarian leader, having modified the nation’s constitution and even faced a military coup.

Ahmedabad, India

In 2021, India formally announced their bid for the 2036 Olympic Games. The Games would almost certainly be held in Ahmedabad.

India has made a serious push to eventually host the Games. Ahmedabad is already home to Narendra Modi Stadium: a recently-renovated 132,000 seat cricket stadium and the largest stadium in the world. The enormous circular stadium would serve as an imposing setting for the Games (and cricket matches, which would surely be part of the Games). Local officials are also planning a sprawling sports complex, which will be developed specifically to meet Olympic standards.

The Indian Olympic Committee has one of the most comprehensive and complete bids for the 2036 Games thus far, including having venues that will be constructed regardless of the success of the bid (satisfying the IOC’s existing venues requirement). They’ve even discussed sports that would be included, which would feature not only cricket (the de facto national sport), but also traditional Indian sports including yoga, kabbadi, and kho-kho. And if you’re unfamiliar with those last two, you have no idea how much fun it would be to watch tag sports in the Olympics.

The nation of India is one of the world’s rising powers. It is one of the most populous nations of the world, and the world’s most populous democracy. India does have more than its fair share of social issues, which have led to widespread protests across the country. And Narendra Modi, the current Prime Minister (who yes, named a stadium after himself) has been criticized for harsh treatment of the nation’s sizable Muslim minority. But one thing is certain: the world, and the IOC, cannot ignore India.

Santiago, Chile

Wow…just look at that view.

Santiago announced their bid for the 2036 Olympics in 2023, after hosting the 2023 Pan American Games. Following the event, IOC President Thomas Bach praised the city and its country, and suggested they bid for the Olympic Games. Soon after, Chilean President Gabriel Boric announced the bid, saying Chile “has the right to dream bigger”.

If Santiago hosts the 2036 Olympics, it will become only the fifth city in the Southern Hemisphere to host, and only the second in South America. Santiago’s bid is off to a strong start: organizers have already identified the venue for opening and closing ceremonies (the Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos), outlined necessary infrastructure projects (including expanding the city’s light rail lines), proposed hosting the Games in October, and floated the idea of holding events on Easter Island.

Santiago’s bid may be the strongest official bid thus far. Chile is a thriving democracy in an overlooked part of the planet. Furthermore, President Bach’s endorsement suggests Santiago would likely be considered a “preferred host”, which under the new selection system would make them hard to beat.

2040 and Beyond

As I’ve said, the IOC is always looking to the future. Already, several potential hosts have withdrawn bids for the 2036 Games to focus on bidding for 2040. London and Berlin headline a group of heavyweights vying for 2040, promising perhaps the most exciting bidding process since the new selection system was instituted. Berlin may already be the favorite: 2040 will mark the fiftieth anniversary of German Reunification.

Rest assured, the Olympic dream will never end. I like to think that the Olympics themselves never truly end. Every two years they change: new cities, new faces. But through it all, the flame continues to burn. And if we are to be saved, it will burn forever. And the Olympic spirit will never die. – MK