Germany still in running to host 2036 Olympics despite centennial of Nazi-era Games

German Olympic committee chief says bid to host 2036, 2040 or 2044 Games is to ‘show a positive Germany,’ after president calls first date ‘historically problematic’

By Alan Baldwin 21 February 2026, 7:14 pm

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L-R: Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler, sports minister Hans von Tschammer und Osten and field marshal Werner von Blomberg observe the Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany in August 1936. (AP Photo)

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (Reuters) — Germany will remain in the running for the 2036 Summer Olympics despite its president expressing concern about the 100th anniversary of the Nazi-era Berlin Games, the nation’s Olympic sports head Thomas Weikert said on Saturday.

The German Olympic Sports Federation (DOSB) is due to decide later this year on putting forward a candidate from Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, and the Rhine-Ruhr region for the 2036, 2040, or 2044 Games. The first of the three dates could be contentious, however.

“The president views the year 2036 as historically problematic for a German bid,” a spokesperson for German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Thursday.

But DOSB President Weikert told reporters at the German House at the Winter Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo that all dates remained open.

“The IOC (International Olympic Committee) decides when the Games will come to Europe. It could be that they say that 2036 is for Asia or Africa,” he said.

“Therefore, my answer is that we have to be ready to organize the Games (whenever they decide). This concerns all three editions,” he said. “We want to show a positive Germany. This would also apply to 2036.”

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks during a joint press conference with his Lebanese counterpart Joseph Aoun (not in picture) at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, February 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

The 1936 Berlin Games are mostly remembered for being turned into a Nazi propaganda tool by German leader Adolf Hitler.

They are also known for the standout achievement of Black sprinter Jesse Owens, who won four gold medals and punctured the Nazi myth of Aryan racial superiority in front of the party leadership.

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said Steinmeier’s concerns were valid, but he did not share them.

“Hosting the Games in Germany on that date would offer an opportunity to demonstrate to the world, and also to the younger generation in Germany, what we as a democratic Germany have learned from our history,” he said this week.