In recent years, interest in hosting the Olympic Games had declined dramatically with only one bid for each of the 2024 and 2028 Summer Games.

For both games, only Paris and Los Angeles submitted bids, resulting in both cities being awarded the honour of hosting the 33rd and 34th Olympic Games of the modern era.

The 2032 Games have been awarded to Brisbane, Australia, and for 2036, according to the IOC president in an interview with AFP, expectations have been renewed with "double-digit" numbers of countries expressing interest.

"We have never been in such a favourable position. We have never seen such a high level of interest in hosting the Olympic Games," he said from his offices in Switzerland.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar are both keen to host the 2036 Games with the former the sole candidate for the 2032 FIFA World Cup. Indonesia and India are also potential hosts if the aim is to expand to "non-traditional" countries.

"We are now 12 years away from these games, so it is way too early to comment on any of these interests," Bach replied when asked about Saudi Arabia and Qatar, whose human rights records would make them controversial destinations for the Games.

Bach attributes the resurgence of interest in hosting the Olympics to reforms made during his tenure which sought to end the wasteful spending that had brought several host cities to the brink of bankruptcy in the past, and made any city think twice before bidding.

Instead of the 'white elephant' shiny new stadiums and facilities which were underused or poorly maintained following the Games - as happened after Athens 2004 and Rio 2016 - the IOC has recently promoted the use of existing or temporary infrastructure and more environmentally friendly practices.

It is estimated that 96 percent of competition at Paris 2024 will take place in existing or temporary venues, while that number for Los Angeles 2028 could be even higher.

Despite concerns over the environmental impact of Paris 2024, not least the decision to host surfing in Tahiti, French organisers claim the event will be responsible for about half the carbon emissions of previous editions in London in 2012 and Rio in 2016.

Bach added, "Paris is the first Olympic Games that is absolutely in line with our Olympic Agenda reforms from start to finish."

Environmental research group Carbon Market Watch has praised the efforts to improve, but remains sceptical that the games can ever be sustainable. "The most significant factor affecting the environmental footprint of the Games is their scale," the group said in a mid-April report.

In this regard, Bach himself acknowledges that global warming is a growing challenge, especially for the snow-dependent Winter Olympics, but also for the much larger summer version.

"The international sports calendar may look very different from the one we are used to now," the German acknowledged as he confirmed future possible date changes to the autumn (which would be spring in the Southern Hemisphere) much like Qatar did in moving the 2022 FIFA World Cup from June-July to November-December.