For better or worse, the entire world will turn its eyes to Tokyo for the 2021 Olympic Games this summer amid a still-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that forced these Games’ postponement from 2020.
There’s no denying the Olympics have lost significant luster in 2021 amid the pandemic, which has forced the Games to take place without fan attendance. Moreover, an increasing number of people associated with the Olympics — both in its organization and the athletes themselves — are testing positive for the virus. Some have even occurred in the Olympic Village, where athletes and other organizers reside during the Games.
Of course, there was no way Japan could have predicted the immense logistical challenge of hosting the Summer Games amid a pandemic at the time it successfully won the bid for the 2020 Olympics over Turkey and Istanbul back in 2013.
Olympic organizers in Tokyo have their work cut out for them to ensure a safe and relatively normal event takes place from July 23 through Aug. 8. It remains to be seen whether the pandemic will affect the way future Olympics unfold.
Here’s a look at future host cities for both the Summer and Winter Games:
Where are the Olympics this year?
The 2021 Olympics will take place in Tokyo; Japan managed to win the bid for the 2020 Games back in 2013 even among fears following the Fukushima power plant crisis. This will be the fourth time in Japan’s history that it hosts an Olympic Games: It first hosted the Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 1964, followed by Winter Games in 1972 (Sapporo) and 1998 (Nagano).
The Japan National Stadium — named Olympic Stadium for the 2021 Games — will host both the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as all track and field events, plus some soccer matches. Japan’s National Olympic Stadium, which hosted the 1964 Games, was demolished and given a roughly $1.18 billion upgrade in advance of the Summer Olympics. Almost all events will take place in Tokyo except for some soccer matches and walk-racing and marathon events, which will take place in Sapporo, roughly 691 miles north of Tokyo.
Below are the full venues for the 2021 Olympics:
Future Olympics locations
The next Olympics looms right around the corner. After Tokyo, the 2022 Winter Games are scheduled to take place in Beijing from Feb. 4-22, 2022 — seven months following the closing ceremonies of the 2021 Olympics. Paris (2024) and Los Angeles (2028) are set to host the next two Summer Olympics. Milan will host the 2026 Winter Games.
2022 Winter Olympics: Beijing
The IOC elected Beijing as the host city of the 2022 Winter Olympics in July 2015, at the 128th IOC Session in Malaysia. The 2022 Games, scheduled to take place Feb. 4-22, 2022, will be noteworthy in several facets, not least of which is the fact it will be the first Winter Games (and only the second Olympic Games ever) to be held in China.
The 2022 Games will also mark the first time the same city hosts both the Summer and Winter Games; Beijing also hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics. Beijing also will become the 11th city to host multiple Olympics. Moreover, China becomes just the ninth country to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
As far as geography is concerned, Beijing will mark the last in three straight Olympic Games hosted in East Asian countries: Pyeongchang, South Korea hosted the 2018 Winter Games, followed by Tokyo in 2021 and, finally, Beijing in 2022.
The 2022 games will include events across several “clusters,” including those held in the Olympic Green, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou.
2024 Summer Olympics: Paris
Bidding for the 2024 Summer Olympics began in 2015. Paris beat out four cities — Hamburg, Rome, Budapest and Los Angeles — for the right to host the Games. After Hamburg, Rome and Budapest ultimately withdrew their names from contention, the IOC approved concurrent Paris and Los Angeles to host the 2024 and ’28 Olympics at an Extraordinary IOC Session in 2017 in Lausanne, Switzerland. The formal announcement for said decision took place at the 131st IOC Session in Lima, Peru.
The 2024 Summer Games, scheduled for July 26 through August 11, 2024, will give France its sixth overall Olympic competition: The first came in 1904, when it hosted the second-ever modern Olympics, also in Paris. The 2024 Summer Games will not only mark the third overall for France, but also its first in 100 years: The previous Games took place in 1904 (Paris) and 1924 (Paris). France has also hosted Winter Games in 1924 (Chamonix), 1968 (Grenoble) and 1992 (Albertville).
Paris will also become just the third city after London (1908, 1948, 2012) to host three Summer Games. It will also consist of several venues spread throughout the area, including the Grand Paris zone (eight sports), Paris Center zone (19 sports), Versailles (four sports) and outlying zones (six sports).
2026 Winter Olympics: Milan Cortina
Italy’s Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo were selected as joint hosts of the 2026 Winter Games, beating out Stockholm-Are (Sweden) at the 134th IOC Session in July 2019 in Lausanne, Switzerland. The 2026 Winter Olympics will mark the first time two cities are listed as hosts in an official capacity.
The 2026 Winter Games, scheduled to take place from Feb. 6 through Feb. 22, 2026, will mark the fourth Olympic Games hosted in Italy, and first for Milan. The first was the 1956 Winter Games (Cortina d’Ampezzo), followed by the 1960 Summer Games (Rome) and 2006 Winter Games (Turin).
Clusters for the 2026 Winter Olympics include Milan, an Assago stand-alone venue, Valtellina, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Val di Fiemme and Verona.
2028 Summer Olympics: Los Angeles
Los Angeles was named as the host of the 2028 Olympics in a concurrent announcement for Paris in 2024. The 2028 Olympics will make Los Angeles just the third city (following London and Paris, respectively) to host three Olympic Games. Los Angeles also hosted the 1932 and 1984 Summer Games.
The 2028 Olympics will also mark the first time the United States hosts Olympic Games since the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. The 2028 Summer Olympics will be the ninth time the U.S. hosts Olympic Games; the next-closest country, including future dates, is France (six).
Venues will range from the downtown Los Angeles Sports Park, Valley Sports Park, South Bay Sports Park, Long Beach Sports Park, Westside and beyond.
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