IOC paves way for both Paris, L.A.

Published 10:44 am Tuesday, November 14, 2017

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The International Olympic Committee’s executive board on Friday approved a proposal to award the 2024 and 2028 Summer Games at the same time later this year, a move that effectively guarantees that Paris and Los Angeles, the only cities vying for the 2024 event, each will host the event in the next decade.

Thomas Bach, the IOC president, said the issue would be put before the full committee membership for a vote here on July 11 and 12. If it is approved then, as expected, the IOC and the two candidate cities would begin negotiations with the aim of finding a deal to satisfy all three parties. A final vote to award the bids would take place Sept. 13, in Lima, Peru.

Paris has come to be seen as the front-runner for the 2024 Games, even more so after the leader of the Los Angeles bid seemed to open the door this week to letting Paris host first, but Bach declined to speculate on how the hosting rights would be distributed.

In the past two years, Budapest, Rome, and Hamburg, Germany, all withdrew bids for the 2024 Games, mostly because of local opposition related to financial concerns. Los Angeles entered the bidding only as a late replacement for Boston, the original U.S. candidate, after it canceled its bid in 2015 after broad public displeasure.

— New York Times