Oklahoma City Looking Ahead To Future Events, Mayor Says

Ahead of Oklahoma City's role in the 2028 Olympic Games, city leaders are preparing for the International Canoe Federation Canoe Slalom World Championships in 2026.

Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt said leaders with the ICF say the city is one of the capitals of the sport.

"Just last week, the International Canoe Federation, that's the international governing body for the sport, they voted to have their World Congress in Oklahoma City in 2026," Holt said. "The eyes of this particular sport around the globe are definitely on Oklahoma City and think of us as one of their chief capitals globally. It's going to give us a lot, we've got a lot of events coming up in the next four years."

Holt said that in addition to its efforts with water sports, the city has been hard at work growing its influence in multiple other sporting disciplines, including the construction of a new arena for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"We have been demonstrating, for the better part of the decade, that Oklahoma City can find ways to work together despite our differences, maybe in federal officials," Holt said. right? "If we want to continue to see the amazing progress we've seen for a quarter century here in Oklahoma City, we got to continue that ethos."

In recent days though, Holt said the city has also been working to repair damage from tornadoes and severe storms.

"This was the worst tornado event we've had here in many years, at least in our city limits, and we had over 50 homes completely destroyed," Holt said. "The miracle was that nobody was killed, and if you've seen the images of the damage, it really does seem unbelievable, but thank God."

As the city looks to move forward, Holt said they are preparing for the holiday season with events such as the Tree Lighting Festival earlier this week.

"We had the big tree lighting on Tuesday in Bricktown, a big crowd came out," Holt said. "I've told people I'm holding the line at Halloween, but Christmas does get earlier every year, and you know what? That's OK. It's a joyous time, and why not spread the season across the calendar a little further?"