Los Angeles, Paris: Which hosts first?
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Finally, Los Angeles and Paris have their Olympic hosting destiny in their own hands.
If they can agree which goes first, each city will be awarded either the 2024 or 2028 Summer Games in September.
International Olympic Committee members voted unanimously Tuesday to seek a consensus three-way deal between the two bid cities and the IOC executive board. Talks will open with Paris widely seen as the favorite for 2024.
If a deal fails to materialize, only the 2024 hosting rights will be granted when the IOC next meets, Sept. 13 in Lima, Peru.
However, an agreement seemed assured, judging by the reaction of the two mayors.
“I have full confidence that we will get there,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said at a celebratory news conference for both candidates and IOC President Thomas Bach.
Garcetti and Anne Hidalgo, his friend and counterpart from Paris, had emerged on stage seconds after the vote, holding hands, to welcome the decision. They were joined by Bach, who raised an arm of each in a shared gesture of triumph.
The mood looked set to continue over dinner at the IOC’s favored five-star hotel, the Lausanne Palace.
The Franco-American alliance continues later this week. U.S. President Donald Trump is due in Paris to join President Emmanuel Macron for Bastille Day on Friday, the national holiday.
Even without help from heads of state, LA and Paris are likely to reach a deal. A headto-head fight for 2024 would create a loser that is unlikely to return four years later for a 2028 bid contest.
“Both of us will find it more and more difficult to convince cities — whether it’s Paris, Los Angeles or other American cities — to really go into this process if one of us gets turned down,” Garcetti had said earlier Tuesday.
A deal to make both cities winners would fulfill a strategy that Bach set in motion in December to help safeguard a stable future for the signature Olympic event.
Asked when a 2024-2028 agreement could be sealed, Bach suggested: “If you ask me, I hope that in August we could be there.”
The IOC approved the expected double award after hearing both cities present their 2024 hosting plans at a conference center in its home city.
Both cities used 45 minutes of videos and speeches in a closed-door session with IOC members to explain how they would host the 2024 Olympics.
“We look forward to working together, maybe not in competition but collaboration with Paris,” Garcetti said.