A tripartite deal between Los Angeles, Paris and the International Olympic Committee to site the 2024 and 2028 Olympic Games could be struck this week, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said late last week.
“We’re getting close, very, very close [to an agreement]” Garcetti told the Southern California News Group, “our conversations have been going very well. This coming week we should probably have things (settled) but I thought two weeks ago we’d have a (agreement).”
The Mayor added that he’s optimistic that there will be an agreement by Friday, a day coinciding with a meeting scheduled to be held with a Los Angeles City Council subcommittee on the Olympic bid. For any LA 2028 agreement to move forward, it would need approval from City Council and the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
“Both cities have talked to them about ’24 and ’28, so ’24 is not off the table, but we have talked about what we would need to engage (for) ’28,” Garcetti said.
Paris 2024 bid Co-Chair Tony Estanguet remained steadfast Friday, however, that only 2024 remains in his bid’s cross-hairs.
He told France 24 “Technically, our project is only feasible for ’24, but there are also more emotional reasons.
“The fact that this is the fourth bid; that we have improved ourselves after the last attempts; the fact that there is this birthday of the centenary in 2024,” Estanguet added, listing reasons why 2024 is the only option for France.
“The fact that this is the right time, we believe, to come back to Europe for economical reasons – the Games need to come back to Europe for TV rights and for economic reasons.
“So, we strongly believe that this is the best choice for the IOC, we are ready to be the partner for ’24, and we continue in this direction.”
The rhetoric makes it clear that the three parties are indeed working toward a Paris 2024 – LA 2028 double allocation with LA receiving incentives to drop from the 2024 race and allow Paris to claim those Games unopposed. If that happens the IOC has said that it will immediately open the 2028 bid race for only Los Angeles, go through the motions of a technical evaluation then have the September 13 IOC Session in Lima elect both Paris and LA to host their respective Games.
To prepare for the 2024 Games Paris will need to build an Olympic Village along the River Seine in Saint-Denis, build an aquatics centre in the same vicinity and then clean the river to make it swimmable for open-water events.
Los Angeles claim that for 2024 no new construction will be required, but for 2028 it’s possible that aging venues may need some further upgrades. The IOC has assured that the program for 2028 will remain consistent with that in 2024 meaning the LA project wouldn’t need to change much for the subsequent edition of the Games.
Both cities will be organizing to host their third Games, equaling only London for the most times staging the event.
