London mayor Sadiq Khan to mull fresh Olympic bid if re-elected

London, May 5 (EFE).- If re-elected, London mayor Sadiq Khan will explore the option of bidding for the Olympic Games in 2036 or 2040 as part of the city’s recovery following the pandemic.

The Labour party candidate told Efe they could be the “most sustainable” Olympics ever, both in terms of environmental impact and financial cost.

Khan said that, should he hold on to his post, he would launch an exploratory committee comprising representatives from the world of sport, business and the public sector to study whether to make the bid.

“The good news is the International Olympic Committee have confirmed that 2036 or 2040 would not be too early for London, bearing in mind we had the Olympics in 2012,” he told Efe.

A successful bid would make London the first city in the world to host four Olympic Games with previous editions being held there in 1908, 1948 and 2012.

In his opinion, the Games would be sustainable thanks to the existing infrastructure in place to accommodate events and the fact that any adaptations made to facilities as well as any new buildings would be done in an environmentally friendly way.

“The cost will be probably the cheapest ever, the impact on the environment will be the most sustainable ever, and so it’s a good way of having an Olympics that’s sustainable for London but shows other cities the way to do it in a way that’s not going to bankrupt the city.”

Despite political divergences, Khan, who in 2016 became London’s first ever Muslim mayor, hopes Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party government will support the plan.

“The government knows — because Boris Johnson was the mayor of London (in 2012) — the huge impact the Olympics can have on our city in inspiring a generation of young people, but also in showing a sign of confidence in our city going forward,” he said.

London 2012 poured 10 billion pounds into the UK economy, Khan said.