IOC announces hosts for new Olympic Qualifier Series

The Chinese city of Shanghai and the Hungarian capital of Budapest have been selected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to serve as hosts of its new Olympic Qualifier Series.

The two-part series, part of the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020+5 roadmap, will feature a series of festival-style events combining sport with urban culture in the months leading up to the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Announced at the 141st IOC Session in the Indian city of Mumbai, the events will include qualifying competitions for the Games in BMX freestyle, breaking (the new Olympic sport of break dancing), skateboarding and sport climbing, with 464 athletes set to compete.

The four sports will be featured in a single urban park alongside art, music and culture over four days.

The Shanghai event will be held at the Huangpu Riverside from 16th to 19th May next year while the Budapest event will take place at the Ludovika Campus from 20th to 23rd June 2024.

Announcing the hosts for the new series, IOC President, Thomas Bach stated “Shanghai and Budapest perfectly align with the concept of the Olympic Qualifier Series, serving as the ideal backdrop for an exciting new chapter in the Olympic movement.

“This series of Olympic qualification events represents a key milestone in enhancing and promoting the road to the Olympic Games. By bringing together the best athletes from these four sports in iconic urban environments, we aim to give them more visibility and highlight their remarkable achievements on the road to Paris.”

Welcoming the city’s success as a co-host of the series, Shanghai Vice Mayor, Xie Dong advised “it is a remarkable opportunity for our city, known for its rich sports history and talents, growing industry and strong sports atmosphere, as it strives to build itself into a world-renowned sports city.

“The event will be held on the banks of our beloved Huangpu River, adding to the beauty of the surrounding scenery as it comes alive with the energy of the most talented athletes. This top-tier event, celebrated for its youthful and urban atmosphere, will undoubtedly ignite the passion of Chinese youth for BMX, breaking, skateboarding and sport climbing.”

Double award of 2030 and 2034 Winter Olympics
The IOC 141st Session has also see the announcement that there will be a double award for the next two Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games.

Outlining the challenges faced by climate change for winter sport, claiming only a select number of countries would be able to stage the Winter Olympics and Paralympics by 2040, down from 15 at present, President Bach explained "by 2040, there remain, practically, just 10 National Olympic Committees who could host these snow events of the Olympic Winter Games.

"From these numbers it becomes even clearer that we need to address very quickly this dramatic impact of climate change on winter sport in the Winter Games."

The double award would follow a similar move in 2017 when, at the IOC Session in Lima, Paris was awarded the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games and Los Angeles the 2028 edition.

Cities in Sweden, Switzerland and France are understood to be considering bids for the 2030 Winter Olympics while Salt Lake City in the USA has long made its preference for the 2034 Winter Olympics over the 2030 edition clear to avoid a close clash with the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

The Japanese city of Sapporo had been seen as a frontrunner for the 2030 Games but has officially ended its interest after a collapse in public support in Japan following the Tokyo 2020 corruption scandals.

Images: Break (break dancing) will be a sport at Paris 2024 and will feature in the Olympic Qualifier Series (top, credit: Shutterstock) and Shanghai's Huangpu Riverside site (below, credit: Shanghai Administration of Sport/International Olympic Committee).