Munich’s goal is clear: to be the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
Germany’s third-largest city is moving ahead with its plans to bid on the 2022 Winter Olympics, the German Olympic Sports Confederation said in a statement Monday.
Munich hosted the 1972 Summer Olympics, highlighted by Mark Spitz‘s record seven swimming gold medals. The Games were struck by tragedy when 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were held hostage in the Olympic village and killed by the Palestinian group Black September.
Munich was beaten by Pyeongchang, South Korea, for the 2018 Winter Games. It must formally bid by the International Olympic Committee’s deadline Nov. 14.
The mountain events would likely be held in nearby Garmisch-Partenkirchen, an hour south of Munich, which hosted the 1936 Winter Olympics. The trend of Winter Olympics to be held in major cities near mountains makes Munich a better option than for Garmisch-Partenkirchen to bid again.
The only official bid for 2022 so far is from Almaty, Kazakhstan, but other European cities, including Barcelona and Oslo, have expressed interest. The U.S. will not bid for the 2022 Olympics.