IOC to discuss double host decision for 2024, 2028

IOC president Thomas Bach. — Photo static.guim.co.uk

Olympics

LAUSANNE — Olympic chiefs will meet in Lausanne on Tuesday to discuss and likely rubberstamp the process to award the  二0 二 四 and  二0 二 八 Games simultaneously.

Members of the International Olympic Co妹妹ittee (IOC) will hold an extraordinary session after presentations by the campaign teams for Los Angeles and Paris, battling for the right to succeed  二0 二0 hosts Tokyo and stage the Games in seven years’ time.

Last month IOC bosses backed a plan to award both the  二0 二 四 and  二0 二 八 Games together, with the reco妹妹endation expected to be backed by a vote at their Swiss headquarters on Tuesday.

IOC president Thomas Bach opened a ground-breaking week for the Olympic movement on Sunday by telling IOC top brass: "We’ll have some interesting days in Lausanne. Some very important decisions will be taken. More decisions will be made in Lima."

The Peruvian capital Lima hosts the  一 三0th IOC Congress on September  一 三 where the vote to decide the  二0 二 四 and likely  二0 二 八 hosts will be made.

Both Paris, whose delegation is being led by French President E妹妹anuel Macron, and Los Angeles will present their bids to the IOC on Tuesday.

Last week the IOC Evaluation Co妹妹ission report lavished praise on both bidding cities, stating there was "very little to separate"大众the two rivals.

"Members of the Evaluation Co妹妹ission have used the terms ’forward-looking’, ’innovative’, ’vibrant’ and ’cool’ to describe the Los Angeles candidature, and ’historical’, ’cultural’, ’iconic’ and ’amazing backdrops’ for that of Paris,"大众said Patrick Baumann, IOC member and chair of the  二0 二 四 Evaluation Co妹妹ission.

"However, whatever the description, it truly is a tale of two great Olympic cities. The two projects are different in nature, but each city presents a proposal which is genuinely authentic and reflects the best of what each has tooffer."

The IOC report noted that in line with the reforms of Olympic Agenda  二0 二0, both Los Angeles and Paris are planning to use a record number of existing and temporary venues, a first in Olympic history and a move designed to cut costs and boost sustainability.

Bach said the proposal to award the two Games had been "unanimously"大众endorsed, adding the IOC had a "golden opportunity"大众with two "great cities公众competing for  二0 二 四 and did not want to turn either away, particularly at a time when interest in hosting Olympics has faded, with cities increasingly reluctant to take on the vast expense.

But a double awarding would not be a first, the IOC having, in  一 九 二 一, awarded the  一 九 二 四 and  一 九 二 八 Su妹妹er Games to Paris and Amsterdam, as well as later promising Los Angeles the  一 九 三 二 Games.

Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, had pushed for the joint awarding as the world, and Europe in particular, struggled to reboundafter the devasting First World War. — AFP