Kenya hopes to be the First African Country to Host the Olympics – Launches Bid Ahead of 2024
Posted on Friday, August 10th, 2012 at 11:46 PMBy Adeola Adeyemo
Kenya has indicated its interest in becoming the first African country to host the Olympics. The country’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga said in London on Wednesday that Kenya will bid to host the 2024 Olympics.
Mr Odinga said sub-Saharan Africa’s time to host the games had come as the region’s trillion-dollar economy was set to boom over the next decade.
“Kenya had the confidence as far back as 1968 to consider bidding for the Olympics,” said Kenya’s Prime Minister, Raila Odinga to the Financial Times.
“That is the spirit we need to recapture. We need to bring back that confidence and say we can do it. It is necessary to take a look back at where are coming from and where we want to go, because we have been drifting for too long,” he said.
A Kenyan bid would be welcomed by the International Olympic Committee but early indications are it would face stiff competition from prominent countries such as the United States with cities such as New York and San Francisco in the running. Prior to this, South Africa and Egypt both had failed attempts to host the Games in 2004 and 2008 respectively.
The shortlist for the 2020 race is made up of Istanbul, Tokyo and Madrid. Other countries thinking about bidding for 2024 include Argentina, Morocco and Egypt.
Kenya already has seven medals at the London 2012 Olympics, including two gold. The country also has high hopes for Sunday’s marathon.
We wish Kenya the very best as they take this bold step in bringing the world games to Africa.
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What do you think about Kenya’s intention to bid for the Olympics. Do you think the country stands a good chance of hosting the Olympics? If you were to take a guess, which African country do you think would be the first to host the Olympics?
Please share your thougths.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Tags: International Olympic Committee, Kenya, Olympics, Raila Odinga
Goodluck 2 them!
http://usaveone.blogspot.com
Go Africa! I definitely think that Kenya would be perfect! If it truly comes to pass, they at least still have 12 years to get prepared.
At least, Kenya is not that foreign to white people and is the next popular destination after South Africa.
I would love to see this happen!
I support them, cause there have a very srong athlete..www.softvie.com
laughable! Kenya always asks for charity money how can they even foot the bill for this!
Ok i don’t think Kenya is that ready, but can you please back up your ignorant comment. Always asks for charity?
no o…pls warri 2052 loool
iLaugh in swahili. Like they don’t have more pressing issues to focus on. ..smh. African governments and misplaced priorities
Keep laughing in Ijebu there. They are well known for having good athletes. Nigerians will be doing swagger up and down but usually end up disappearing when the real action starts.
LoL at doing swagger…I laugh in Ekiti****
Not a bad idea! I always though SA would be first but it doesn’t matter who hosts it. I would like to see it hosted in Africa; all the best to them!
http://www.princessofzion.wordpress.com
I think Kenya will give d best as well as other African countries. Let’s give it a trial
why the not do the common wealth games first
July/August is winter in South Africa so when would South Africa host? In the fall/early winter?
Realistically, they maybe in 2032 and beyond.
http://lifethroughomaseyes.blogspot.com
kenya for that matter lol.
You are busy laughing at Kenya. Nigeria could not even bring a single medal home and even in the next century or should I say millennium “NIGERIA” will not be able to host Olympics.
Well, an Olympic games in Africa will be cool so I support any serious bid.
http://naijasportsgists.wordpress.com/
its funny how Nigerians are here laughing at Kenya’s bid to host the olympics. Well i think they will do a better job at that dan Nigeria, cos even in the next 80 years we cant host anything in this country were nothing works..
My only issue is what happens to the uselss stadia that remains after the games are over? Also its very expensive to host the Olympics , so you ask yourself is it really worth it?
They probably could pull it off, but the real question is what is the opportunity cost. They should only submit a bid if they’re confident that by 2024 most Kenyans will be able to comfortably pay for tickets to attend the games
kenya is potential
This should be very interesting. When is Naija bidding?
Loll. What electricity will Nigeria use to host an event of that stature? The security is a mess and those things, Boko Haram, will be excited. Nigeria should not even bother bidding. Let us fix our deteriorating nation first.
In the next millennium
It will be nice to see an African Country host but not sure We are ready… We can host Common wealth games first South Africa, Eygpt and Nigeria(we lost a bid to host it to Glasgow ) but I doubt if Africa will be allowed to host the olympics, Olympics is bigger and more expensive to host than even the fifa world cup.
No African country should bid until they fix the corruption that is eating up the continent. Definitely, not Nigeria. It still has a lot of fix with their own inner problems, let’s not get ahead of ourselves now. Don’t people see how much money spent on olympics, and the country has to be a developed to an extent first. Every African country is still in the developing process, not there yet. The only country, maybe capable is South Africa, I mean the white south Africans. Kenya? Stick to running marathon and long distance.
Lol!
Nigeria is still battling bombs and religious wars.
http://www.thestunninglady.blogspot.com
Olympics is bigger and higly expensive.i doubt if kenya can foot such billing
skeptic versus optimistic Africans. I support and wish my lovely country all the best.
I wish kenya all b best .
kenya has made a great achievment by thnkin bout even bidding instead of just sitting to always watch other achieve…look at nairobi its the best n largest city after cairo towards north east west n south ommitting south african cities we r the thrd best in infrastructure in africa yet we just have agriculture n tourism we get to b top ten in african economy now that we hav coal titanium n oil plus we world salt produce we are the only african nation with with geothermal n kenyan govt has been gven permission to put up a nuclear program by 2017 already under way we got to war in 2007 bt stil we leading economy in east n central africa!! our country has got the second largest port in africa all major african routes pass in kenya be it trans saharan great north rift wat country has that !?? we r able to host rhino safaris largest car racing game in africa!!…kenya bagged 10 medals highest in africa
south africa had 6
ethopia had 6 too
wen any new development is to take place thea wil always b opposition nuclear programs u get all kind of lame opposas….the type that use corrupt leaders to criticize a country are getting overated look at ghana thats a great democratic nation kudos other countries gat oil but neva grow economical coz they keep comparing their country to others am glad we r dreaming of hosting olympics wat does ur country dream!?
@sealyx
No offense to you, but Kenya still has a LONG way to go. Kenya might be the most advanced economy in east and central Africa but there’s still high level of underdevelopment, the poverty/starvation level is still high, illiteracy and so on. So, let’s keep things in perspective here. London, is in shithole now because their economy is in the worst condition but at least it was once doing well. All the countries that has hosted, are far more developed than the whole Africa put together. They are called one of the powerful countries for a reason. Brazil, that is hosting it in 2016, are the fifth largest economy in the world. You have to be ready to accommodate the millions of people who come from around the world, in terms of tourism, food, electricity, etc. Kenya has bagged 10 medals, the highest in Africa but it’s specifically in the same sport which is long distance. You have to compete in all around sports than that. If any African country is planning to bid, they better speak with actions not just word of mouth, and put in effort to develop their country. I don’t know how Kenya will be 2024, but judging from right now, you guys should stick to running long distance, take the gold home and call it a day.