The Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee announced Friday in Lausanne, Switzerland a proposal to pick the host cities for the 2024 and 2028 Summer Games at the same time later this year.
Even though specifics about which city would host the Olympics first were not addressed Friday, it does appear that both cities will be awarded a Summer Games this year, thus saving the IOC having to make a similar decision four years from now regarding the 2028 Olympics, and assuring host cities will have been selected for the next decade. (Tokyo had already been awarded the 2020 Games.)
The IOC has never named more than one host city for the Summer Games in a single announcement since 1896, the start of the Modern Olympic era.
"This represents a golden opportunity for the Olympic Games and for the IOC," IOC President Thomas Bach said of the Executive Committee's decision at a news conference Friday.
The full IOC membership will be meeting one month from now in Lausanne to ratify the Executive Committee's request. In the meantime, it's possible that Paris and Los Angeles could work together to determine which city hosts the 2024 Olympics, and present that result at the IOC meeting on July 11-12.
A final vote to confirm the July decision is expected to take place on Sept. 13 in Lima, Peru, at the already-scheduled IOC annual meeting.
Last month, Paris and Los Angeles welcomed IOC members to tour intended venues for their proposals for hosting the Games. Both cities plan to use existing facilities for wrestling.
In its proposal for the 2024 Olympics, Paris plans to conduct all wrestling events at Bercy Arena II, an 8,000-seat venue which will also host some preliminary basketball games as well.
Los Angeles' Olympic proposed venue for wrestling is Pauley Pavilion, home to UCLA's basketball program. The arena, built in 1965 but substantially upgraded in 2012, has approximately 13,800 permanent seats.
IOC President Bach praised Los Angeles and Paris as "two such great cities, two such great countries, having two candidatures who are really enthusiastic."
Both cities have hosted the Summer Olympics twice. Paris welcomed the Games in 1900 and 1924… while Los Angeles held the event in 1932 and 1984.
Paris and Los Angeles had been the last two finalists for hosting the 2024 Olympics. At least three other cities had dropped out of contention for the 2024 Games: Budapest, Hungary; Hamburg, Germany; and Rome, Italy.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now