London eyeing fourth Olympics, says mayor

LONDON • Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said on Friday that his office was working on getting the Olympics back to the city and making them the "greenest Games ever".

The British capital last hosted the Summer Games in 2012 for a record third time and the earliest bid would be for 2036 - since the next three Games have already been allocated to Paris (2024), Los Angeles (2028) and Brisbane (2032).

Despite hosting two other Olympics in the past - 1908 and 1948 - London remains a big draw to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as one of the world's major global cities.

"The great thing about London is you don't expend carbon on building new stadiums, new places to do cycling, new places to do swimming because we've got all the kit," Khan told Sky News.

"There's no pressure from the IOC, the key thing is to make sure we've got all the building blocks in place."

Khan added that the plans remain at an early stage and would require the support of the British government and the British Olympic Association.

The IOC normally names the host city of a Games seven years in advance and the governing body has urged potential bidders to come up with improved environmental plans for any future Games.

That works to London's advantage as any bid will centre around reusing many of the venues used during the London Games, as part of meeting green credentials.

"We've seen over the last few days the consequences of climate change in relation to the heatwaves, in relation to the grass fires," Khan said.

"What we need is to make sure future Games are green and what we're doing is working on a plan to have the greenest games ever."

Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth is not scheduled to attend the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham next week, with her son and heir to the throne Prince Charles set to deliver a speech on her behalf.

Prince Charles will be accompanied by his wife, Camilla, at next Thursday's opening ceremony of the multi-sport event, which will be attended by athletes from the Commonwealth network of 54 countries, Buckingham Palace said on Friday.

Queen Elizabeth, who is 96, has mostly kept out of the spotlight this year, with the palace citing "episodic mobility issues".

However, she did appear on the balcony of her royal residence in London during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations last month and also recently attended the opening of a London rail line named in her honour.

REUTERS