Mayors from across the north have met to discuss the possibility of a northern Olympic bid.
The event at Sheffield’s Olympic Legacy Park was hosted by South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard and North East Mayor Kim McGuinness as the first formal step in exploring the idea.
In May, the government said they would carry out an assessment ahead of a potential bid for the Olympics and Paralympics to be held in the north in the 2040s.
More than 40 Olympians, Paralympians and elite athletes, including cycling’s Dame Laura Kenny, Sir Jason Kenny, Dame Sarah Storey and Tom Pidcock MBE have all signed a joint statement “to express our strong and united support” for the idea.
Coppard said they were all “banging the drum” for a bid.
“It’s time that the Olympics and Paralympics came to the north. It’s incredibly exciting.”
His co-host McGuinness, who also chairs the pan-regional group The Great North designed to attract investment, said the support of athletes for a northern bid was “hugely significant”.
She said the games would be “a global showcase” and leave a legacy of “prosperity, unity and renewal”.
“This growing movement of support shows the strength of feeling behind the idea and the opportunity it presents for the whole country.”