2024 Olympic Bid Planned By Nairobi

In a little over two decades the Olympic Games could be hosted for the first time in Africa. Nairobi’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga said today that the city plans to make a bid for the 2024 Olympics.

Reuters reports that if Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, is awarded the 2024 Olympics it will be the first African city to host the Olympic Games.

A statement from the Kenya National House, reads:

“Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, speaking at the Kenya National House today, announced that the Republic of Kenya will be starting the process of pitching to host the Games of the 33rd Olympiad in 2024… If successful, these Games will be the first ever held in Africa.”

Nairobi may become the first African country to host the Olympics but it is not the first to place a bid. Egypt was in the running for the 2008 Olympics and South Africa’s Cape Town placed a bid for the 2004 Games. Africa hasn’t hosted an Olympic Games yet but the country did prove in 2010 that it was capable of hosting a major sporting event when the World Cup traveled to South Africa.

The 2016 Olympic Games will be hosted in Rio de Janeiro and the 2020 games will likely be held in Tokyo, Madrid or Istanbul. The International Olympic Committee will decide the location for the 2020 Olympics next year. The IOC will announce the location of the 2024 Olympics in 2017.

Would you like to see Nairobi’s 2024 Olympic bid succeed?