Wed, Jul 12, 2017 page16

• Macron, Los Angeles mayor court IOC ahead of vote

  • AFP, LAUSANNE, Switzerland
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  Political heavyweights from Paris and Los Angeles on Monday courted the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ahead of a key vote likely to determine the hosts of the 2024 and 2028 Games.

  French President Emmanuel Macron and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti were both in Lausanne for talks with Olympic brass, including IOC president Thomas Bach.

  The two cities have been battling fiercely for the right to host 2024, but a compromise solution pushed by Bach could see both bids emerge as winners.

  Bach and the IOC executive committee want to award 2024 and 2028 together at the Olympic movement’s main annual meeting in Peru in September. That plan, likely to be rubber-stamped by IOC members yesterday, will effectively guarantee that both the French capital and Californian metropolis get the Games.

  Paris has emerged as the clear front-runner for 2024, with Los Angeles hinting that it might be prepared to wait four more years.

  Neither Macron nor Garcetti directly addressed the contest for 2024, instead affirming the need for a strong Olympic movement amid a chaotic political climate.

  “In a fractured world where tensions are resurgent, we need the values of peace and tolerance that the Olympic movement illustrates and embodies strongly,” Macron said, flanked by Bach.

  Macron braved a light rain as he climbed the steps to the lakeside Olympic Museum, where he took a tour alongside his wife, Brigitte, and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, among other dignitaries from the Paris bid.

  Macron said he was representing a Paris team bolstered by “the complete unity of the country.”

  Garcetti had a separate tour of the museum with Bach and Los Angeles bid leaders, including former sprint champion Michael Johnson.

  He said his goal was to “bring America back to the Olympics and the Olympics back to America.”

  “In this crazy moment in the world, when so much is unsure, let’s bring what we know to be true and good and that is the Olympic movement,” he said.

  The IOC has had trouble attracting prospective hosts, given the massive costs of staging the Games.

  Bach has described Paris and Los Angeles as “two great Olympic cities” and does not want to reject either.

  Locking in the pair for 2024 and 2028 would offer the IOC a degree of stability as it pushes new efforts to reign in costs.

  Assuming IOC members approve the double hosting plan at yesterday’s meeting, Bach has said that formal negotiations would begin with both cities over who goes first.

  A source close to the Los Angeles bid speaking anonymously said 2028 might offer “a better deal,” as the IOC may be in a position to offer more cash from marketing rights.

  A double awarding would not be a first, as the IOC in 1921 awarded the 1924 and 1928 Summer Games to Paris and Amsterdam respectively, as well as later promising Los Angeles the 1932 Games.
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