Russia may bid for hosting Summer Olympic Games, Putin says

The next three editions of the Summer Olympic Games are scheduled to be held in Tokyo, Paris and Los Angeles

KALININGRAD, July 20. /TASS/. Russia is likely to submit a bid for hosting an edition of the Summer Olympic Games, President Vladimir Putin said at his meeting with volunteers of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

"This is quite possible," Putin said when asked if Russia was capable of hosting the Summer Olympic Games.

The next three editions of the Summer Olympic Games are scheduled to be held in Japan’s Tokyo in 2020, France’s Paris in 2024 and in Los Angeles, the United States, in 2028.

The Russian president said the country has not initiated a relevant bid as of yet. Putin told volunteers that it was important to speak not only about the organization of global sports events in the country, but also to think about how to utilize the capacities left as a heritage after hosting major events.

This summer, Russia hosted its first-ever FIFA World Cup, which kicked off in Moscow with a remarkable opening show at Luzhniki Stadium on the evening of June 14 and ended with a spectacular final match, also played at Luzhniki Stadium, where France soundly defeated Croatia 4-2 to win the much-coveted World Cup Trophy.

The country selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they were Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.

In February and March of 2014, the Russian resort city of Sochi hosted the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, which, according to international sports officials, athletes and visitors, were organized at the highest level possible and provided up-to-date infrastructure at all levels.