Mayor Sadiq Khan eyes up another Olympics for London, promising the 'greenest games'

"The cost wouldn’t be humongous and we could have the greenest Olympics ever," Mr Khan told ITV News London

London has ambitions to be the sporting capital of the world and could host the ‘greenest ever’ Olympic Games, according to the mayor.

Sadiq Khan on a five-day visit to the US revealed City Hall officials were looking at the viability of bidding for another Olympics. He first raised the idea of a fourth London Olympics in 2036 or 2040 during his re-election campaign in May 2021. The idea was dismissed by his Conservative rival Shaun Bailey as a gimmick. The project has appeared to make little obvious progress since the election but the mayor said his team was talking to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). "We’ve got the facilities in London so the cost wouldn’t be humongous and we could have the greenest Olympics ever," said Mr Khan. He added: "We’re working on the preliminary plans, we’re talking to the IOC, so watch this space." The mayor was speaking in New York after unveiling plans for the return to London of Major League Baseball in 2023.

The former London 2012 stadium hosted MLB games between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees in 2019. US Baseball Commissioner Robert D Manfred Jnr said the matches were an overwhelming success. ‘We are confident of making a long-term commitment to London and are looking forward to returning to the city with more MLB games, special fan events and other opportunities to play and watch the game,’ said Mr Manfred.

The mayor said he wanted London to become the ‘sporting capital of the world’. Mr Khan. added: ‘We’re keen to make sure we have sports coming to London whether it’s baseball, American football, we’ve got the FA Cup final this Saturday, Wimbledon’s back, whether it’s indeed the Olympics coming back as well.” London has staged the Olympics three times, most recently a decade ago this Summer. The seven-year project to create the Olympic Park and sporting venues cost £9.3bn.

Bringing the games back to the capital might be less expensive but still challenging. Both the London Stadium and London Aquatics Centre have been downsized since 2012, with fewer spectator seats. More than 3,000 households now occupy the apartments in the former athletes' village next to the main venues.

In an extended interview with Duncan Golestani, Sadiq Khan spoke about new US tech investment in London, a possible Olympics and why it's important to 'bang the drum' for London abroad.