With Macron on board, Paris 2024 bid is ‘ready right now’
SAMUEL PETREQUIN
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Paris bid leaders want to capitalize on the sense of optimism surrounding new President Emmanuel Macron to beat Los Angeles and secure the Olympic Games in 2024, not 2028.
With the IOC currently assessing a proposal to award the next two Olympics — one to each city — Paris officials insist the French capital city is the right choice for 2024.
The 39-year-old Macron, France’s youngestever president, officially took office on Sunday as the IOC evaluation commission started a three-day visit to Paris.
“Our team has a new member, the new President of France, Emmanuel Macron,” bid leader Tony Estanguet said on Sunday. “He’s been a fantastic supporter of our bid from the beginning. He will be with us all the way to Lima and hopefully beyond.”
Los Angeles and Paris are the only two bidders left for the 2024 Games, which will be awarded in September at a meeting of Olympic leaders, in Peru. The race began with five cities, but Rome, Hamburg, Germany, and Budapest, Hungary, all pulled out.
The IOC has four vice-presidents looking into the prospect of awarding the 2024 and 2028 Games at the same time in September.
“We have one goal during these few days: To convince you that Paris is the right city, with the right vision, at the right moment,” Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said. “The right city with world-class venues and accommodation, and the best public transport in the world, ready right now.”
International Olympic Committee members were in Los Angeles earlier this week to meet with the U.S. bid leaders and inspect their planned venues. While Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti appeared at least willing to consider hosting the 2028 Olympics if the city isn’t awarded its first choice of 2024, Hidalgo said Paris is set for the earlier edition.
“With financial and political stability and support, we are ready right now,” Hidalgo said. “At the right moment, as the no risk option.”
Patrick Baumann, the chair of the IOC evaluation commission, said Sunday’s discussions with Paris leaders focused solely on their project for 2024.
“Right now we are still in a process where we assess a potential candidacy for 2024,” Baumann told a press conference. “2024-2028 was not a matter of discussion.”
The French government has pledged one billion euros ($1.1 billion) of support for the Paris bid and Macron is expected to confirm that amount. If Paris is awarded the 2024 Games, the infrastructure budget is expected to total about $3 billion, with operational costs of about $3.5 billion.
Paris is also betting on the compactness of its plans to make the difference. According to the bid dossier, 84 per cent of the athletes will be able to reach their competition venues in less than 25 minutes, and more than 70 per cent of the proposed venues are existing facilities, with a further 25 per cent relying on temporary structures.
Paris, which last staged the Olympics in 1924, failed in bids for the 1992, 2008, and 2012 Games.