{"id":227492,"date":"2026-02-08T09:52:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T09:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/08\/uk-mayors-launch-olympics-bid-plea-for-great-north-games-after-london-2012-joy\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T09:52:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T09:52:23","slug":"uk-mayors-launch-olympics-bid-plea-for-great-north-games-after-london-2012-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/08\/uk-mayors-launch-olympics-bid-plea-for-great-north-games-after-london-2012-joy\/","title":{"rendered":"UK mayors launch Olympics bid plea for &#8216;Great North&#8217; Games after London 2012 joy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_6bc9da\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">Bidding for the 2036 Summer Olympics is open, and a mayoral-led collaboration &#8211; &#8216;The Great North&#8217; &#8211; want any future UK-based Games to take place in Northern England<\/h2>\n<p><button class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36688106\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Andy Burnham believes another Summer Olympic Games being in London &quot;wouldn't be fair or right&quot;\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Andy Burnham believes another Summer Olympic Games being in London &#8220;wouldn&#8217;t be fair or right&#8221;<cite aria-label=\"Image: PA\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: PA)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Greater Manchester mayor <a aria-label=\"Andy BurnhamLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/andy-burnham\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Andy Burnham<\/a> is one of 11 political leaders calling for any future UK-based <a aria-label=\"Summer Olympic GamesLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/olympic-games\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Summer Olympic Games<\/a> to be in Northern England. <a aria-label=\"London 2012Link opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/london-2012-olympics\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">London 2012<\/a> gold medalist <a aria-label=\"Luke CampbellLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/luke-campbell\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Luke Campbell<\/a>, who is now mayor of Hull and East Yorkshire, is also supporting the call.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><a aria-label=\"Great North RunLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/great-north-run-1\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Great North Run<\/a> founder and former Olympic long-distance runner <a aria-label=\"Sir Brendan FosterLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/brendan-foster\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Sir Brendan Foster<\/a> is another ex-athlete joining the politicians. A mayoral-led collaboration called &#8216;The Great North&#8217; has written to <a aria-label=\"Lisa NandyLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/lisa-nandy\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Lisa Nandy<\/a>, the culture, media and sport secretary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Nandy was in Italy this weekend for the <a aria-label=\"Winter OlympicsLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/2026-winter-olympics\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Winter Olympics<\/a>. And Northern leaders now want any future summer Games in England.<\/p>\n<p><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_add887\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36685507\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/other-sports\/jd-vance-usa-winter-olympics-36685507\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IOC breaks silence to defend JD Vance and USA after brutal booing at Winter Olympics<\/a><\/span><\/span><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_add887\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36685823\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/lindsey-vonn-winter-olympics-injury-36685823\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lindsey Vonn disagrees with doctor over horror knee injury claim at Winter Olympics<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">As reported in <a aria-label=\"The Sunday TimesLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.com\/sport\/olympics\/article\/northern-england-olympic-games-2036-0p9jcwssb?gaa_at=eafs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">The Sunday Times<\/a>, their letter reads: &#8220;A northern-based Olympic Games is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to accelerate regeneration, rebalance the economy, and reset international perceptions of England.&#8221; It claims: &#8220;This is also a question of fairness and credibility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;If the UK is serious about rebalancing growth, a Games hosted in and across the North would send a clear signal \u2014 domestically and internationally \u2014 that opportunity, ambition and national pride are shared.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">JOIN US ON FACEBOOK!<\/strong> <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MirrorSport#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"\/><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"><u>All the best sports news and much more on our dedicated Facebook page<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The Times also quotes a source behind the bid. They said: &#8220;It&#8217;s time that people stop thinking about the north as a post-industrial bleak landscape. It&#8217;s not. It&#8217;s full of vibrant, amazing cities, and beautiful settings and landscapes, which could be used to host the biggest sports event on earth and showcase the north of England to the <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/world-news\/\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">world<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Kim McGuinness, the mayor of the North East, is the chair of The Great North. She said: &#8220;The North of England has a sporting history and prowess like no other place, and we are united in our belief that our region could host a box office, world-leading Olympic Games.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-36688084\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36688084\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.33\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The mayor of the North East, Kim McGuinness, poses for a photo in front of a sign that reads: &quot;Proud to be part of The Great North&quot;.\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 458px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36688084.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_Img-8096.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36688084.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s458b\/0_Img-8096.jpg 458w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36688084.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/0_Img-8096.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36688084.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_Img-8096.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"The mayor of the North East, Kim McGuinness, is the chair of 'The Great North'\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">The mayor of the North East, Kim McGuinness, is the chair of &#8216;The Great North&#8217;<cite aria-label=\"Image: Copyright Unknown\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Copyright Unknown)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Burnham has also said: &#8220;A lot of work and thought has gone into this, and it feels very of the moment. There has been some suggestion that the country was looking at another London bid, but that wouldn&#8217;t be fair or right.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;And that&#8217;s nothing against the capital. It hosted an unforgettable Olympics, and I look back at it quite wistfully, actually, remembering what the country used to be like and how much it has changed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;It&#8217;s about recapturing that for the north of England, that vibrancy and positivity. That&#8217;s what Britain needs right now. If you set this ambition, the north will rise to it in the most breathtaking way.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Campbell shares a similar sentiment after recalling that London 2012 &#8220;brought the country together&#8221;. The former bantamweight boxer said: &#8220;Everything in this country is so focused on London, but England isn&#8217;t just about red buses and telephone boxes; this is our chance to show us off to the world.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Foster, who won bronze in the 10,000 metres at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, believes, &#8220;It&#8217;s time the north stops getting the crumbs, and gets the cake instead.&#8221; Mayor of South Yorkshire Oliver Coppard claims: &#8220;The north can put on a show, we can take on the world&#8217;s biggest cultural festival and make a success of it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"AffiliateContentsEmbed_affiliate-contents-container__oTiet\" data-testid=\"affiliate-contents-embed\">\n<div data-testid=\"affiliate-content\" class=\"AffiliateContent_affiliate-content-container__10EX_ affiliate-content\">\n<p>Watch Winter Olympics 2026 live on discovery+<\/p>\n<div class=\"AffiliateDisclaimer_affiliate-disclaimer__dG5ST\">\n<div class=\"AffiliateDisclaimer_affiliate-text__8nmDa\">This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/affiliates\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Learn more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"AffiliateContent_section-container__JMDzM AffiliateContent_content-details__U6C2M AffiliateContent_has-content-img___LY95\">\n<div class=\"AffiliateContent_section-content__QCkL9\">\n<div class=\"AffiliateContent_content-image__FxPNL\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Content Image\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36597648.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s510b\/0_Untitled-6jpeg.jpg\"\/><\/div>\n<div class=\"AffiliateContent_content-price-details__OpMC_\">\n<p>\u00a33.99<\/p>\n<p>discovery+<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"AffiliateContent_content-buy-btn__xWiVO buy-btn\" aria-label=\"Buy button\" href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4qSiovb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noreferrer noopener\">Get discovery+ here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"AffiliateContent_section-container__JMDzM\">\n<div id=\"product-description\" class=\"AffiliateContent_section-content__QCkL9\">\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games is running from February 6-22 and fans can enjoy more than 850 hours of action live on discovery+ via Prime Video.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Throughout the games, the \u00a33.99 discovery+ Entertainment subscription will provide access to TNT Sports 2, the home of 24\/7 Olympic coverage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/other-sports\/olympics-uk-manchester-liverpool-games-36688116\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bidding for the 2036 Summer Olympics is open, and a mayoral-led collaboration &#8211; &#8216;The Great North&#8217; &#8211; want any future UK-based Games to take place in Northern England Andy Burnham believes another Summer Olympic Games being in London &#8220;wouldn&#8217;t be fair or right&#8221;(Image: PA) Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is one of 11 political leaders [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":227493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6802],"tags":[69652,57662,9010],"class_list":{"0":"post-227492","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-athetics","8":"tag-andy-burnham","9":"tag-london-2012-olympics","10":"tag-olympic-games"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=227492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/227492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/227493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=227492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=227492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=227492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}