Afrika célba veszi az olimpiát: Dél-Afrika beszáll a 2036/2040-es versenybe
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The nation's Olympic committee is preparing June's formal presentation of its interest in staging the Summer Games in 2036 or 2040 to the IOC, with government backing and a shared model involving Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban.
The move opens a political, economic and sporting race of enormous significance as South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committe President Barry Hendricks warned in comments to SABC Sport that the project would require billions and that even the preliminary phase would involve considerable expenditure. State support, therefore, will be decisive both in sustaining the bid and in underwriting any eventual hosting.
The pursued model is designed to spread venues and responsibilities around so that the entire burden does not fall on a single city. Hendricks pointed to the French experience as a possible roadmap for South Africa. "If you look at what happened in Paris, France, the games took place in Paris as well as a few cities outside of Paris and France, so it can be done because South Africa is relatively small," he noted. "If one looks at the last Olympics, surfing took place at an island far far away so we are quite comfortable with the hybrid model."
As the timetable tightens, Hendricks told SABC Sport that the federation had already taken earlier steps abroad and was now moving into the internal organisation phase to avoid losing time. "We went to Lucern last year, we then got the go ahead and they informed us of the process and then we waited for the cabinet to approve, we've got that approval and now we are starting to put a team together," he said. The ambition, moreover, is not limited to a single cycle: if the 2036 option falls through, attention will shift to 2040.
But the initiative goes beyond preparing a bid dossier. A second front is now opening with the creation of a structure intended to sustain South Africa's Olympic ambition beyond any specific date. Hendricks confirmed that SASCOC will launch an Olympic and Paralympic foundation aimed both at strengthening sporting development and at reinforcing the country's international credibility in future selection processes.
The official told SABC Sport that the foundation will begin with external support and a dedicated leadership structure. "We are going to launch the South African Olympic and Paralympic Foundation, working with the former CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation as a service provider to develop the original concept document and programme of action", said Hendricks. "We will also appoint a board to guide its work." The new body forms part of a long-term strategy to build a more stable base for athletes, programmes and major events.
Within that framework, 2026 looks less like a year of transition than one of intense preparation. On the immediate horizon is South Africa's participation in international competitions such as the Winter Youth Olympics and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, scheduled for 23 July to 2 August, as well as the possible visit of International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry, who has not yet officially travelled to the country since her election in 2025.
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There are also intermediate steps along that path, and the youth event in Malta next year stands out as a useful reference point for assessing what kind of events South Africa could stage before targeting the biggest platform of all. Hendricks left the door open to hosting a Commonwealth Youth Games and framed that possibility as a meaningful test of capacity. "If we can host that, we will be able to measure our strength," he explained.
That approach carries particular weight in a country still marked by the uncomfortable precedent of withdrawing from the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Durban. Hendricks, however, told SABC Sport that the current focus lies elsewhere and that the priority is to get its own house in order. That effort includes working jointly with the government to revive the South African Games as a platform for development and talent identification.
Taken together, Hendricks' remarks point to a multi-layered offensive: a bid in preparation, a foundation to support it, smaller events as a testing ground, and an institutional agenda aimed at putting South Africa back on the map of major hosts. "It's not a quiet year as people think," he concluded. "It's an exciting year, full of action and important steps for the future of sport in this country."