Reporting from Toronto, Canada – Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) President Marcel Aubut told a press conference Sunday that he would “use his full power” to support a bid from Toronto for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
He said at the end of the 2015 Pan Am Games that they are going to look into a bid within the next days and weeks.
When asked about the Economic Development Committee of Toronto city council rejecting a 2024 bid, Aubut said he knows Toronto mayor John Tory and that Tory knows what to do. That negative vote came under the former Mayor Rob Ford’s watch and he was against spending and bidding for the Games.
If Toronto submits a bid for 2024, the city council would likely have to ratify it with a new vote after the September 15 nomination deadline.
The President said that following the Pan Am Games, “this is the time when our trademark has never been so popular”, adding that “if you don’t act when you are at the top, I am going to force you to act, to make changes.”
With 80 percent of the venues for an Olympics already in place as a result of preparations for the Pan Am Games, Aubut said that a bid would align well with the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Agenda 2020.
During the Games closing ceremony at the Pan Am Dome Sunday night – Games Chief Saad Rafi boasted “we do difficult and ambitious things and we do them well.”
“Tonight is a victory celebration.”
Pan Am Sports Organization (PASO) First Vice President Ivar Sisniega said “Toronto and Ontario can be very proud with these Pan-Amazing Games.”
“You have every right to imagine of one day hosting the Olympic Games.”
The Pan American Games are the world’s third largest international multi-sport Games surpassed in size and scope only by the Olympic Summer Games and the Asian Games. Rio de Janeiro spring boarded its hosting of the 2007 Pan Am Games to a successful bid for the 2016 Olympic Games.
While grass roots opposition exists for a Toronto Olympic bid, recent unscientific polls in the media show overwhelming support for the city’s third attempt since 1996.
A star studded closing ceremony featuring Canadian singer Serena Ryder along with headliners Kanye West and Pitbull helped set the celebratory mood at the Pan Am Dome. Topped off with spectacular fireworks from the iconic CN Tower, the Games literally ended with a bang.
The Parapan Am Games are scheduled to run from August 7 to August 15.
