Why Mo Farah's Heroics is Catalyst For London Bid To Host 2040 Olympic Games

Mo Farah. Photo. Imago

Why Mo Farah's Heroics is Catalyst For London Bid To Host 2040 Olympic Games

Evans Ousuru 03:12 - 02.05.2025

Mo Farah silenced critics on home soil and organisers are going to use his inspiration to put together a bid for London to host the 2040 Olympics.

London 2012 proved to be a monumental success for the United Kingdom, thanks to Mo Farah's heroics on home soil.

Farah won the 10,000m gold in a time of 27:30.42. This was Great Britain's first Olympic gold medal in the 10,000m, and came after two other gold medals for the country in the same athletics.

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The Somali-born Farah made it a long-distance double, winning the 5000m in a time of 13:41.66. The noise from the crowd in the 5,000m race was so loud it made the camera shake and distorted the photo-finish image as the six-time World champion dedicated the two golds to his twin daughters.

With the memory still vivid, London plan to bid for the 2040 Olympics, making it a record fourth time the city is hosting the quadrennial competition after doing so in 1908, 1948, and 2012.

The 2040 Olympic mission is part of a strategy aimed at boosting the economy by bringing a series of sporting competition to these shores according to the Daily Mail.

The staging of six events last year, including the Champions League final at Wembley and the London Athletics Meet, as well as regular-season NFL and Major League Baseball games, generated £230million for the capital according to report from London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

It also attracted almost 500,000 sports fans to the city, with more than 200 million viewers tuning in across the globe.

Which events is London hosting?

Why Mo Farah's 2012 Heroics is Catalyst For London Bid To Host 2040 Olympic Games
Mo Farah | Credit: BBC

Khan intends to join forces with British Athletics and UK Sport to submit a proposal to host the World Athletics Championship in 2029. The Championships could be worth as much as £400m to London and provide the perfect springboard for the Olympic bid.

England, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales have already been confirmed as hosts for Euro 2028, while the 2035 Women’s World Cup will also land on these shores.

London will also host the Women’s Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham this year, which is expected to attract a world-record crowd for a single full-sided women’s rugby event. And Khan said he will hold meetings with the government ‘in the near future’ to discuss a bid for London to host the 2040 Olympics.

LA and Brisbane are hosts for the 2028 and 2032 Games while India is the favourite destination for 2036.

"I was in Paris last summer and I saw the transformation of their city. But we could knock it out of the park in relation to the Olympics, using the assets we already have in the Aquatics Centre, the stadium, and the Velodrome," Khan said.

"And we could have some events outside of London, too. London could be a hub. When it comes to major sports events, the public and governments are not unreasonably nervous about a huge amount of money being spent on infrastructure."

The staging of American sports in London has proved hugely lucrative

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