South Africa puts Durban forward for a 2036 or 2040 Summer Olympics bid

South Africa is pushing for 4 million residents in Durban to anchor its pursuit of the first Summer Olympics held on African soil. The country is bidding for the 2036 or 2040 Games, and the International Olympic Committee will select the 2036 host city in mid-2029.

Lwandile Simelane, acting president of the South African Sports Confederation, Olympic and Paralympic Committee, announced on Thursday that Durban is the country's main candidate city. Simelane said the submission would likely be a multi-city bid, with events spread across other cities. Johannesburg and Cape Town were also considered as candidate cities.

Durban sits on the subtropical Indian Ocean coast and was floated as a possible host more than a decade ago, after South Africa staged the 2010 football World Cup, the first held in Africa. An official bid never materialized then, largely over cost concerns. The city later lost its role hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games because it could not provide the required financial or other guarantees.

Officials said Thursday they could not yet estimate what staging the Olympics would cost. They said the bid would center on the 56,000-seat Moses Mabhida Stadium, built for the 2010 World Cup. South Africa is one of seven countries seeking the 2036 Games, alongside India, Qatar, South Korea, Germany, Hungary and Turkiye. The IOC set October 31 as the deadline for national Olympic committees to declare bidding interest.

Candidates can make virtual presentations to the IOC next month to begin the official bidding process, and the IOC board is scheduled to approve a shortlist in March. South Africa failed in its bid for the 2004 Games in Cape Town. The Youth Olympics open this weekend in Dakar, Senegal, marking the first Olympic sports event held in Africa.