The race for the 2036 Summer Olympics has not yet officially begun. It has only just opened its dialogue phase to applicants. But it promises to be one of the most contrasting in history.

Without predicting the future, which is always very uncertain when it comes to Olympic bids, the battle could pit projects that are completely different. Starting with the dimensions. At one end of the scale, India, with its population of nearly 1,5 billion inhabitants, its XXL concept. At the other, Copenhagen, with 600.000 inhabitants at the last census, 2,1 million including the metropolis.

The Danish capital is thinking about trying the adventure. It says so. It has even already calculated the cost of the first stage. The national media report that the very modest sum, worthy of an Olympic record, of 500.000 crowns (67.000 euros at the current exchange rate) has been allocated by the local authorities in the 2025 budget for a feasibility study of the project.

Minimalist. But, at the same time, in line with Danish ambitions. Mia Nyegaard, the mayor of Copenhagen in charge of Culture and Leisure, explained: the country wants to offer the IOC the smallest and least expensive Summer Games in history. A low-cost version of an event whose latest version, Paris 2024, has a budget of more than 4,3 billion euros to date.

« A few years ago I came up with the idea of ​​organising the smallest and most sustainable Olympic Games in Denmark., explained the elected official in a press release. We're now looking at what that will take, and it's going to be really exciting to watch. »

At this stage of the process, Copenhagen is still in its early steps. The idea is making its way. It will have to be refined by a feasibility study, before considering a trip to Lausanne to begin the sacrosanct dialogue.

But the Danes have already put some ideas on paper. They are not lacking in audacity. They are thinking of installing the athletes' village on cruise ships parked in the port of Copenhagen. Cool. They are thinking of saving on an Olympic stadium by opting for a temporary structure. It would be dismantled after the end of the Paralympic Games.

Above all, Copenhagen wants to play on two tables. Cautious, the elected officials of the capital are working at the same time on a bid for the Olympic Games in 2036 and on another, even more modest one, for the Summer Youth Games in 2030. The two projects are not necessarily incompatible. The YOG in 2030 could even serve as a test for the Games in 2036.

Credible? Why not. With twelve years to go, the battle for the 2036 Games is shaping up to be the most open in recent decades, with no clear favourite and projects often being led by countries that have never hosted the event before (India, Indonesia, Qatar, Hungary, Poland, Chile, Egypt, Turkey).

The picture is all the more unclear as it will be the first under a new president for the IOC, Thomas Bach having confirmed last month in Paris his decision to hand over the keys to his office after the March 2025 session.

The same uncertainty surrounds the 2030 Youth Games. India seems determined to submit a bid, to prepare the ground for its project for the Games in 2036. Bosnia-Herzegovina is also interested. In Southeast Asia, Thailand and even Cambodia are also in the running.

Almost superfluous precision: Denmark, 5,9 million inhabitants, has never organized an Olympic event. It has never even submitted the slightest candidacy.

But Sport Event Denmark, the state agency responsible for sporting events, was a gold partner of SportAccord 2024 in Birmingham in April. And the country is due to host two major events in the first half of 2025 alone: ​​the Men's Handball World Championships in January, with Norway and Croatia, and the Men's Ice Hockey World Championships in May, with Sweden.