Report: IOC leaning toward awarding 2024 Olympics to Paris, 2028 to Los Angeles
The International Olympic Committee is leaning toward a deal that would award the 2024 Olympics to Paris and the 2028 Olympics to Los Angeles, according to Matthew Futterman of the Wall Street Journal.
The WSJ reports that the deal getting finalized is contingent on Los Angeles and the U.S. Olympic Committee securing enough incentives that waiting four extra years to host the Summer Games is still financially viable and beneficial. In exchange for waiting four more years, the Los Angeles organizing committee could receive financial assistance from the IOC as well as funding for youth sports programs in the city, according to the WSJ.
There is still time for a final decision to be made before the IOC meets on September 13 in Lima, Peru. President Thomas Bach and the IOC have shifted to being open to the possibility of awarding the 2024 and 2028 Olympics in a double vote.
There is also a mid-July meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland where Los Angeles and Paris will make detailed presentations regarding their bids.
Bach reportedly had private conversations with Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti and USOC chairman Larry Probst.
Los Angeles and Paris are the lone remaining cities bidding for the 2024 Games after the withdrawal of Budapest, Hmaburg and Rome. The past Olympic bidding cycles have seen several cities back out of bidding due to lack of political support and the inflating cost of hosting the Games. Rio de Janeiro serves as a cautionary example as many of its stadiums have been left untouched and broken down.
Los Angeles, which last hosted the Games in 1984, replaced Boston as the U.S. candidate city after the bid was met with strong opposition from within the local community. Los Angeles would be the first U.S. Olympic host city since Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Winter Games. Atlanta was the last U.S. city to host the Summer Games, when they hosted in 1996.
Paris is looking to host the Olympics on the 100th anniversary of the 2024 Summer Games – when the founder of the modern Olympics Pierre de Coubertin hosted his final Olympics in his host country. It would be Paris' third Olympics after 1900 and 1924. Paris has strongly pushed for 2024 and not 2028.
“We are working exclusively to win in 2024. We are strong today with our vision," Paris 2024 co-bid chief Tony Estanguet told Inside the Games. "We believe it is the right moment for our city to be chosen. It is now or never."
Los Angeles and Garcetti haven't ceded their 2024 bid.
“While the IOC is reviewing its bid process, we remain focused on the 2024 Games," a spokesman for LA2024 told the WSJ. "We’re honored that Los Angeles is a 2024 Candidate City at this important time for the Olympic and Paralympic Movements, and we look forward to collaborating with the IOC in the months ahead.”
The last time the IOC simultaneously awarded two Olympic host cities was in 1921, when Paris got 1924 and Amsterdam received 1928.
