The International Olympic Committee is hitting the pause button on selecting future host cities, initiating a sweeping review to democratize its secretive bidding process.

In a decisive break from tradition, the IOC has announced a "Pause and Reflection" period, effectively freezing the selection of hosts for the 2036 Summer Games and beyond. The move, championed by newly-elected IOC President Kirsty Coventry, aims to overhaul a system that has long been criticized for its opacity, expense, and lack of genuine engagement with the committee's broader membership.

The decision emerged from a two-day Executive Board meeting in Lausanne, where members expressed a strong desire to be more involved in the selection machinery. "Members want to be engaged more in the process," Coventry admitted, acknowledging that the current "Targeted Dialogue" approach—while efficient—often leaves the wider Olympic family feeling sidelined until the decision is already made.

Learning from LA and Brisbane

The review is driven by the stark contrast in lead times for recent and upcoming Games. The IOC awarded the 2028 Games to Los Angeles and the 2032 Games to Brisbane fully 11 years in advance, a strategy designed to provide stability. However, the recent nomination of the French Alps for the 2030 Winter Games, with a much shorter runway of just seven years, has reignited the debate: What is the optimal timeline for awarding the world’s biggest sporting event?

A new working group has been established to answer this question. It will dissect the lessons learned from the long-lead strategies of LA and Brisbane versus the compressed timeline of the French Alps. The goal is to find a "Goldilocks" zone that gives cities enough time to prepare sustainable infrastructure without locking the IOC into decisions so far in advance that geopolitical or economic contexts shift drastically.

A New Era of Transparency?

For decades, the Olympic bidding process was synonymous with backroom deals and exorbitant spending by candidate cities. The 2019 reforms attempted to fix this by creating a Future Host Commission to quietly vet candidates. While this reduced costs and scandal, it also centralized power. This latest reform push appears to be a course correction, aiming to reintroduce a measure of democratic debate among the 100+ IOC members without returning to the wasteful pageantry of the past.

• The Coventry Factor: As the new President, Kirsty Coventry is moving quickly to stamp her authority on the organization, signaling a more consultative leadership style than her predecessor, Thomas Bach.
• Sustainability Focus: The review will also double down on the requirement for hosts to use existing or temporary venues, ensuring that the "white elephant" stadiums of the past remain in history.
• Global Equity: By rethinking the process, the IOC hopes to make hosting viable for a wider range of regions, potentially opening the door for the first African or Indian Olympic Games in the future.

The Waiting Game

For cities eyeing the 2036 slot—including hopefuls from India, Indonesia, and Turkey—the news brings uncertainty. The race is effectively suspended until the working group delivers its recommendations. But for the Olympic movement itself, this pause represents a necessary moment of introspection. In a rapidly changing world, the IOC is realizing that the old ways of doing business—even the "new" old ways—need a refresh to maintain legitimacy.