In this article, the past and present candidacies, sports policies, pros and cons of the city of Istanbul, which has announced that it will be a candidate for the 2036 Summer Olympics, are evaluated. The Olympic Games organize educational programs to spread the Olympic movement for the local people of the host city and especially for the youth, thus creating sports awareness and informing the public and encouraging them to participate in sports. In recent years, Turkey's major sports organizations have enabled the workforce to gain experience, create new employment opportunities, change the perception towards sports, and enable Turkish athletes to achieve significant successes competing in front of their own audiences. In addition to all these benefits, national federations were able to establish close relations with international federations. In this way, the country's sporting potential was showcased and increased. During Istanbul's unsuccessful bid for the 5 Olympic Games, there was significant evidence that relationships with international federations were useful for creating opportunities to host individual sporting events. Our study examines Istanbul's Olympic Games candidacy journey from 2000 to 2020. It shows that the Olympics offer opportunities to host cities, but also pose threats to host cities if the post-event process is not designed. In addition, it is anticipated that this research will have a positive contribution to Istanbul's candidacy process for the 2036 Summer Olympics and to Turkish sports organizations planning to be candidates for large-scale sporting events.