Hamburg Ahead Of Berlin In Local Support For German Bid To Host 2024 Olympics

The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) said that Hamburg "has edged ahead of capital Berlin in their head-to-head race for the German candidacy for the 2024 Olympics, recording stronger local support in a poll," according to Karolos Grohmann of REUTERS. Hamburg has 64% of local residents in favor of a Games candidacy while more than one in two Berliners (55%) showed support for an Olympic bid. DOSB President Alfons Hörmann: "We are delighted with the support for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and especially that in both cities there was an increase (of support)." The poll was conducted in February over the telephone with a sample of 1,500 citizens over the age of 14 in both cities. The DOSB "is set to name its preferred choice on March 16 before its members decide on the final German selection on March 21." But there "will also be a referendum in the city once selected as the DOSB is desperate to get as much local backing as possible" (REUTERS, 3/10).