Los Angeles’ bid committee for the 2024 Olympic Games has selected UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) halls of residence as the proposed site of the Olympic Village. 

The Media Village would be housed at the University of Southern California (USC), in the event of Los Angeles winning the bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games.

“LA 2024 is first and foremost focused on the athletes and when we looked across the city at possible accommodations options, it became clear that we can offer the best personalized experience for athletes and other participants through existing facilities at UCLA and USC,” said Gene Sykes, CEO of LA 2024.

“With these excellent residences at USC and UCLA, LA 2024 has developed an innovative Games Plan that aligns closely with Olympic Agenda 2020’s sustainability and fiscal discipline goals.”

Building and finding suitable legacy use for athletes’ villages is a challenge for the organisers of mega sports events. 

LA 2024 had previously planned to build a new village for the Games, but with projected costs rising in excess of US$1bn the bid committee has proposed a more sustainable solution.

“We have carefully chosen facilities that are sustainable, fiscally responsible and athlete-friendly,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. 

UCLA will house all eligible athletes and team officials at its residential facilities. All of these facilities are either newly built or recently renovated and incorporate modern design, spacious layouts, social gathering places, and the latest technology and conveniences. 

The Olympic Village offers world-class training centres on site, allowing athletes the convenience of training for their events without having to travel outside the Village. The Village already includes the Drake Stadium, a 400-meter track and field venue. Other facilities will include an Olympic-size swimming and diving pools, gym, tennis, basketball, beach volleyball and other recreation and training facilities. 

“UCLA’s played a special and unforgettable part in my sporting career. It has always provided me with an environment in which to excel, and now I’m training for Rio 2016 at UCLA’s facilities,” said Dawn Harper-Nelson, Beijing 2008 Olympic gold and London 2012 Olympic silver medalist hurdler and UCLA graduate.

“I have experienced both UCLA’s residences and two Olympic Villages, and UCLA measures up perfectly. I am delighted that athletes from across the world will have the opportunity to experience the university’s best-in-class facilities if LA is selected as host city.”

Members of the media, officials and other stakeholders will be housed at USC, which offers newly renovated accommodations located around its Collegiate Gothic-style campus. USC is constructing a new 15-acre residential and retail village, which will house 2,700, and offers a grocery, drugstore, fitness centre, restaurants and retail stores.

USC’s campus and the new USC Media Village are located in the heart of the Downtown Games Cluster, within walking distance to events held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, USC Galen Center, Staples Center, Microsoft Theater and the renovated Convention Center.

“As a USC alum, I’m proud that the media, officials and other supporters of the athletes will have the opportunity to call USC’s world-class campus home during the Games,” said Janet Evans, LA 2024 Vice Chair and Director of Athlete Relations.

“USC is already home to thousands of international students and offers housing of the highest possible quality. The proximity of this housing to LA’s sporting venues will transform the media’s Games-time experience, ensuring optimum living and working conditions.”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has received candidature files from Los Angeles (USA), Rome (Italy), Budapest (Hungary) and Paris (France) for hosting the Olympic Games 2024 by the Wednesday deadline.

The IOC has hailed the plans, which were submitted in digital-only format for the first time, as showing the potential for unprecedented venue sustainability. 

“Following Olympic Agenda 2020, the Candidate Cities are making use of an extremely high percentage of existing and temporary venues, possibly the most ever,” said Jacqueline Barrett, Associate Director Olympic Games/Olympic Candidatures.

Olympic Agenda 2020 is the IOC’s strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement and the candidature process for the 2024 Games is the first to be launched following its adoption. 

The new process encourages cities to present Olympic projects that best match their sports, economic, social and environmental long-term planning needs. It calls for the use of existing facilities where possible, and provides flexibility for the venue concept to meet local sustainability and legacy needs and ambitions.

“Los Angeles, Rome, Budapest and Paris are all submitting projects fully in line with Olympic Agenda 2020,” said IOC President Thomas Bach.

 “It is impressive to see how they have incorporated the Olympic project into the long-term development plans of their city, region and country. Coming from different starting points, for all four there is a clear focus on sustainable development, legacy and in particular how the facilities are going to be used after the Olympic Games,” said Bach. 

“We are delighted to have four extremely strong candidatures and look forward to a fascinating competition.”

The submission of the Candidature Files on “Vision, Games Concept and Strategy” marks the end of the first part of the bidding process. 

“The plans received indicate very thoughtful consideration of what the Cities and their people need for the future,” said Barrett.

“The IOC has significantly simplified the Candidature Process, symbolised by the fact that the submissions arrived for the very first time on a USB key only, instead of thousands of pages of paper documents.”

An IOC-appointed working group will now study the files and report to the IOC Executive Board (EB) in June 2016. 

The next stage of the Candidature Process will focus on Governance, Legal and Venue Funding, to be submitted by 7 October 2016, followed by a final “Games Delivery, Experience and Venue Legacy” stage due on 3 February 2017.

During Stage 3, an IOC Evaluation Commission will make working visits to each City to study their projects in detail and issue a final report. 

The host city of the 2024 Olympic Games will be elected in September 2017 at the IOC Session in Lima, Peru.

The International Olympic Committee has welcomed an “outstanding” pool of candidate cities bidding for the 2024 Games. 

Budapest, Hamburg, Los Angeles, Paris and Rome all submitted applications to host the 2024 Olympic Games before the IOC’s deadline of midnight on Tuesday. 

“We are welcoming five outstanding and highly qualified Candidate Cities,” said IOC President Thomas Bach.

With four major European cities and the biggest city in North America in the running, the profile of the cities is a marked change from recent Olympic Games bidding, which has been dominated by, and awarded to, cities from outside these regions. 

The most recent IOC bidding process, for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, began with six applicant cities but only Beijing and Almaty proceeded to the candidature stage. 

Since then, the bidding procedure has been changed with the implementation of Olympic Agenda 2020, the programme of reform introduced by IOC president Thomas Bach.

One of the changes brought in is the removal of the “applicant phase” – so the five cities that have applied to host the Games are immediately considered to be candidates, after an “invitation phase” that has been taking place in recent months. 

“Olympic Agenda 2020 has shaped the Candidature Process more as an invitation and the cities have responded by engaging with the IOC through dialogue and cooperation,” said Bach. 

The removal of the applicant phase means that the five bidding cities will remain in the race until the host city election until 2017. 

The central focus of Agenda 2020 is reducing the financial burden of hosting the Olympic Games and making sure that hosting the event fits with the city development plans. 

“In the new invitation process the IOC learnt that all the candidates are embracing Olympic Agenda 2020 from their respective vision for the future of their city,” said Bach. 

“Sustainability and legacy are the cornerstones of each candidature.”

A number of other cities and regions had been discussing the possibility of bidding for the 2024 Games.

A possible bid from Toronto, which hosted a successful Pan American Games earlier this year, was said to be on the cards but ruled out at the last minute. 

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Toronto mayor John Tory said that an Olympic bid would form part of the city’s future plans. 

"I can't look people in the eye at this point in our city's development and tell them that an Olympic bid is the best use of our time, our energy or our investment," he said. 

"But now I can look in the eyes of my colleagues at other levels of government and say this, together we should be making the investment talked about in the context of the Olympics."

Commitments to good governance, transparency and ethics were also key features of Agenda 2020 and the IOC has published all the documents related to the candidature, including online for the first time at this stage in the process. 

Changes to the host city contract include: reference to sexual orientation in the non-discrimination clause; the freedom of media to report on the Games; and a stipulation for organisers to comply with applicable local, regional and national legislation and international agreements “with regard to planning, construction, protection of the environment, health and safety, labour and anti-corruption laws”.

The IOC has also reduced the cost of bidding, with candidate cities expected to make just three presentations instead of nine, with the travel cost for these presentations and the cost of visiting IOC evaluation commissions to be covered by the IOC. 

The IOC has also committed to contributing USD 1.7 billion in cash and services to the organising committee for the 2024 Olympic Games.

The host city of the 2024 Olympic Games will be elected by all IOC members at the 130th IOC Session in Lima, Peru in 2017.

Changes to the IOC’s bidding procedure have attracted a “very considerable field” of five candidate cities, all of which are expected to stay the course until the host city election in September 2017, IOC Vice President Sir Craig Reedie CBE told HOST CITY in an exclusive interview. 

“The change in the candidature rules, which came out of the whole reform process called Agenda 2020, seems to have attracted a very considerable field of really good cities,” he said. 

“The big addition has been the invitation phase before a National Olympic Committee decides finally to put a city into the candidature role.”

This new invitation phase ended on 15 September. “For several months before that, cities that were thinking of bidding for the Games, and the National Olympic Committees, came to meet the relevant people in the Olympic Games department and the candidate cities department of the IOC to sit down and work out exactly how the Games would fit into their city; how it would provide legacy; how it would be sustainable; how it would fit into city plans.

“That’s a complete change from the previous process, where the IOC had a very detailed list of requirements and cities bid against that list. 

“So there is a major change there and I understand that it has been welcomed by the cities,” said Sir Craig Reedie, who is delivering a keynote speech at HOST CITY 2015, which takes place in Glasgow on 9th and 10th November under the theme of “Creative Innovation Connecting Cities with Sports, Business and Culture Events.”

The five bidding cities – Budapest, Hamburg, Los Angeles, Paris and Rome – have all progressed to the candidature phase, rather than going through the previous applicant city phase, and will now submit their candidature files in three sections. 

“So rather than one huge bid book being required at a set date, it’s divided into three sections. There are workshops planned; there are assistances planned to the cities throughout.”

In the previous round of bids for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, three cities pulled out of bidding during the applicant phase while Olso withdrew in the candidature phase. 

The IOC’s new and more consultative adopted now means that such a fallout is unlikely to happen, Sir Craig Reedie said. 

“It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that a city could come back and say we’re not taking it any further – I think that’s unlikely in the sense that a lot of work will have gone into this, a lot of discussions have gone on through the invitation phase. And since it’s going on through a stage by stage basis I think it’s highly unlikely that people will withdraw. 

“The end result of that is that we will have five cities presenting to the Session on the ultimate decision to be taken in Lima in Peru in 2017.”

Asked if it was a relief when Los Angeles stepped forward to take the place of Boston’s abandoned bid, Sir Craig Reedie said: “Yes, I think the USOC have all but admitted that their process might not have worked in the selection of Boston.

“But, with Boston’s withdrawal, they were fortunate in many ways that the Los Angeles people were so able to come to the party very quickly and in a relatively tight timeframe.

“Los Angeles has an Olympic record – if they win they will be like London, hosting the third time. The city has changed dramatically over the last few years and I am sure they will come forward with a very good bid.”

The IOC is very pleased to have five cities bidding, Reedie said. “It’s an interesting mix. Paris is looking to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 1924 Games in Paris and has clear bidding experience. 

“Rome hosted outstanding Games in 1960 and there seems to be considerable enthusiasm in Italy and in Rome behind the Rome bid, so they are impressive.

“Budapest has come quite late to the party but again a splendid city and Hungary has a terrific Olympic record. 

“It’s interesting that when the German Olympic Committee decided to choose Hamburg as opposed to Berlin, who I suppose before that decision would have been seen to be favourite, immediately there was strong support from Berlin for the Hamburg choice. So again there seems to be a great deal of unity there. 

“So it’s a really good field.”

LA 2024 Vice Chair and four-time Olympic swimming champion Janet Evans attended Host City 2015 conference in Glasgow this week, marking the start of a busy period for the LA 2024 Candidature Committee which includes attending the IOC 2024 Candidate City workshops in Lausanne (November 19-20) and the European Olympic Committees (EOC) General Assembly in Prague (November 20-21).

The Host City 2015 conference, which took place in Glasgow on November 9-10, offered Evans, who is also LA 2024 Director of Athlete Relations, the chance to learn from the experiences of a range of leaders from across the Olympic Movement.

LA 2024 Chairman Casey Wasserman said: “We are delighted that Janet is attending the Host City conference in Glasgow with so many Olympic experts present. We are very much in our ‘looking, listening and learning’ phase and these types of events are an invaluable part of this process.

“We will also send a significant LA 2024 delegation to Lausanne for the IOC 2024 Candidate City workshops; which will provide the ideal opportunity to engage and interact with the IOC on the path ahead.

“The EOC General Assembly in Prague represents a further opportunity, after the ANOC General Assembly in Washington, D.C., to consult with the NOC family. Their athletes are at the very heart of the Olympic Movement and IOC President Thomas Bach’s visionary Olympic Agenda 2020. The NOCs have a critical role in preparing and supporting athletes, so it is vital that we consult with them whenever possible.”

The US Olympic Committee is due to speak with Boston’s bid team today to re-evaluate whether they should remain the US city of choice to bid for the 2024 Olympics Games – but comments made to Host City earlier this month by the USOC’s lead advisor indicate that the choice of city is not the critical issue.

“I think the biggest challenge that any US city faces has to do with the host city agreements and being able to provide the appropriate guarantees to the IOC. It’s no secret that that’s a challenge for any US city.” USOC advisor Doug Arnot told Host City in early July.

“Being able to put together a programme that is risk-averse, that minimises and mitigates risk to the extent that it can be acceptable to fitting in state government is always going to be a challenge for any US city, not only Boston.

“Boston has responded very well to what I would call democratic pressures. They have had to take a look at their plan and make sure that it made sense from a financial perspective, from a legacy perspective – they’ve had to examine it much more carefully than a lot of bids would at this time. 

“They’ve been under the gun, it’s definitely been a challenge but they’re responding very well to the challenge.” 

Asked whether the USOC chose the right city in Boston, Arnot said: “We had four great cities to choose from. There were some very good reasons to pick Boston and there were some very good reasons that we could have gone with the other cities. We have all put our energy behind Boston and are trying to help them to continue to advance the plans.”

National Olympic Committees interested in bidding for the 2024 Olympic Games must present a city to the IOC by 15 September. 

Budapest, Hamburg, Paris and Rome have so far been announced as bidding cities, with Toronto said to be considering applying. The Russian city of Kazan has also recently been linked to a possible bid.

Paris officially launched its long anticipated bid for the 2024 Games on Tuesday, with a message of strong backing from the state and the public. 

The leaders of the bid also said a referendum was unlikely to be required. 

In its bid to host the Games, Paris is competing against Boston and Hamburg, which both face public referendums in order to progress their bids, as well as Rome and a likely bid from Budapest and other potential contenders including Baku and Doha.

“We are all very much motivated and enthusiastic to be able to achieve unanimity in this ambition to make Paris an Olympic and Paralympic city in 2024,” said bid committee chairman Bernard Lapasset.

“Bidding for the Games is a unique and exciting project for a country. This is an ambitious project that goes beyond sport, as its reach is global and significant impact at all levels and for the whole country.

“As we move forward with our bid, it is very pleasing to see today that we already have the full support of the city, regional and national governments as well as the CNOSF and the French sports movement – it is wonderful to also receive significant public support and real backing from our athletes.”

Lapasset added that the bid would “excite, unite and enthuse the people of Paris, our entire nation and lovers of Olympic and Paralympic sport all over the world.”

Asked by Le Monde after the launch if there would be a referendum on the bid, Lapasset said “I don’t think there will be one.”

This position was backed up by Etienne Thobois, chief executive of Paris 2024 bid committee who told media: “As of today there is no plan for a referendum at this stage.”

Lapasset and Thobois reportedly both stressed that public consultation will be crucial as the bid progresses. 

The bid committee drew attention to France’s current form in hosting major sports events, which includes the World Rowing Championships and the Basketball European Championships in 2015, EURO 2016, the World Handball Championships in 2017 and the Ryder Cup in 2018.

2024 marks the centenary of the last and only time Paris has hosted the Olympic Games, in 1924.  The city unsuccessfully bid for the Games in 1992, 2008 and 2012. 

But Thobois said “We are looking forward, we are not looking backwards… we are into Agenda 2020, not Agenda 1920.”

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, said Paris was “looking forward to an exciting and bold future whilst remaining true to its rich sporting and cultural traditions.

“We aim to highlight the unity and the solidarity of a cosmopolitan city, which I am sure will be one of the key strengths to win.”

The host city of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be elected by IOC members in a secret ballot at the body’s 130th Session in the Peruvian capital of Lima in September 2017.

[Source: Paris 2024] Following initial validation by the Executive Board on 23 June, Paris 2024 is continuing its efforts to optimise the Olympic and Paralympic venues master plan, which ensures enhanced competition conditions, helps keep control of the budget, and preserves the legacy of the Games for local residents and regional authorities. The Board of Directors of Paris 2024 has approved the potential solutions identified, and granted a mandate to the organisation to continue working with the stakeholders involved, before the propositions are  officially presented to the IOC and IPC for final validation.

Châteauroux identified as a venue for shooting and shooting Para sport

The Board of Directors of Paris 2024 has confirmed that the shooting and shooting Para sport events are to be moved and the venue in Châteauroux as the favoured option offering the best conditions for the organisation of the competitions in 2024. Drawing upon the positive exchanges with the Fédération Nationale de Tir (National Shooting Federation), and the enthusiasm of the elected regional authorities, Paris 2024 is continuing discussions with the actors involved to finalise the technical and financial matters relating to this new host territory.

The “Terrain des Essences”, in La Courneuve, which was initially identified to host the shooting and shooting Para sport, will remain a competition venue. It will serve as the starting point for the Para marathon and the Mass Event Road cycling; there is less temporary infrastructure required for these two events. The large-scale decontamination and renaturing work will continue on the 13-hectare site, meaning the Games leave a lasting legacy that will benefit the area and its residents.

With Villepinte, new competitions will be hosted in Seine-Saint-Denis

The Board of Directors has approved the site of Villepinte, in Seine-Saint-Denis, to host the boxing preliminaries, the fencing ranking round of modern pentathlon and sitting volleyball during the Paralympic Games. The venue is subject to validation by the relevant international federations. The final stages of the boxing events will be held in Roland Garros, on the Philippe-Chatrier court, after the Tennis competition.

With Villepinte, and with the para cycling events being held at Clichy-Sous-Bois, in addition to all the sites that are already on the venues master plan, Seine-Saint-Denis is, even more than before, at the very heart of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille has been selected to host the basketball preliminary rounds

Following discussions with the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the IOC, the Board of Directors has mandated Paris 2024 to propose the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Lille for the organisation of the preliminary phase of the basketball events.

Stade Pierre Mauroy has a history of hosting major international competitions. The record attendance for a basketball match in Europe was broken at Stade Pierre-Mauroy at the EuroBasket final in 2015 (27,372 spectators).

This new arrangement has the benefit of providing greater coherence between different team sports. With the basketball preliminaries being held in Lille, the handball preliminaries can be staged in Paris, in Hall 6 of the Parc des Expositions at Porte de Versailles. Thus, handball players will have the possibility of competing in Paris. From the quarterfinals onwards, the basketball competition will take place at Arena Bercy in the heart of Paris. This option also helps optimise the use of existing competition venues and keeps the budget under control thanks to the exceptional capacity of the competition site in Lille.

Next step

The IOC will  provide a final approval of these venues after full completion of the technical assessments as to the Pierre Mauroy Stadium's compliance with FIBA’s requirements.

Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games planned to take place in the very heart of the city

The Board of Directors has officially mandated Paris 2024 to present to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) the alternative concept of a Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony in the heart of the host city, Paris. Organised on the iconic Place De La Concorde, the Ceremony would be offering Paralympic athletes a unique experience.

Discussions will be held in the coming weeks with the IPC to agree on areas such as spectator capacity, accessibility, athletes' experience and budget, to define the most appropriate scenario for the Paralympics Games Opening Ceremony.

The two closing ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games will take place at the Stade De France, in Saint-Denis.

The IOC and the bid committees of Los Angeles and Paris have agreed to work together on what the IOC President and LA Mayor have both described as the “golden opportunity” of awarding 2024 and 2028 Games simultaneously.

However, there is no guarantee of securing a host for 2028 before the next IOC session in Lima in September.

Speaking from the Extraordinary IOC Session in Lausanne, former IOC Vice President Sir Craig Reedie told Host City: “The IOC, having had issues with a shortage of candidates for previous Winter Games, now find themselves in a situation of having two outstanding candidates for the Summer Games of 2024.

“The Session decided that it would allow the creation of a tripartite solution involving the IOC and both of the cities, LA and Paris, to see if an agreement could be reached whereby one would agree to organise 2024 and a different city to organise 2028.

“This tripartite agreement is likely to take some time. If not successful, there will be a contest in Lima to award the 2024 Games. This solution was unanimously accepted by the IOC Session.”

The LA2024 bid committee welcomed the IOC decision with this statement: “This is a proud day for Los Angeles and the Olympic and Paralympic Movements in America.

“We're thrilled with the IOC's decision today, which is a major step forward in making LA's Olympic dream a reality.

“Today, two of the world's greatest cities, with outstanding but different proposals, stand ready to serve and advance the Olympic and Paralympic movements and their values. We look forward to working with the IOC and Paris in the weeks ahead to turn this golden opportunity into a golden future together.”

Paris mayor Anne Hildago tweeted: “#Lausanne marks the beginning of a great story between Olympic family, #Paris and #LosAngeles. Thanks to the members of the IOC.”

IOC member and co-president of Paris 2024 bid committee Tony Estanguet tweeted: “Today is day one of a new chapter. Three partners working together to strengthen Olympism.”

But not everyone is convinced that the IOC’s move is a result of positive factors. One delegate at Major Events International Summit on the Olympic park on Wednesday told Host City: “This is not a sign of strength but of weakness. They only have two candidates.”

In a wide-ranging interview to be published in the next issue of Host City magazine, Sir Craig Reedie gave an upbeat assessment of the bidding process for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

“Looking at the Winter Games that’s where there may be an indication of reason for hope. There is a potential bid from Stockholm, which is hopeful because if ever a country deserved a Winter Olympic Games it’s Sweden. They are a leading Winter sports country that have never hosted the Games.

"There is a good candidate in Switzerland from Sion and potential Innsbruck from Austria. Calgary are looking at it again, so perhaps we are moving out of the phase that the IOC had where, particularly in Europe, politicians seemed to be very loath to take on the major multisport Olympic events on the basis of their inability to control costs.”

Sir Craig Reedie is speaking at Host City 2017 in Glasgow on 28 and 29 November.

The membership of the IOC on Tuesday unanimously approved the proposal to award the hosting rights of both the 2024 and 2028 Games at the next IOC session in Lima in September.

The unprecedented decision means both cities currently bidding for the 2024 Games – Los Angeles and Paris – are set to become Olympic host cities, subject to agreement from the respective cities and national Olympic committees over which city will host which edition.

IOC President Thomas Bach described the IOC decision a "golden opportunity" for all involved.

"We are ready to work with them on this 'win-win-win' approach," said Emmanuel Macron, President of France who attended the IOC session in Lausanne.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said: "I am fully committed with the Paris team to putting all my energy, our creativity and my resolve into reaching an agreement for Paris to experience once again this Olympic adventure that it has been longing for for 100 years."

Prior to this decision, Paris has ruled out hosting the Games in 2028, while Los Angeles had not dismissed this possibility. The city that hosts the 2028 Games is expected to ask for concessions from the IOC.

"In Olympic history there's only been 37 times in which there has been a tie for a gold medal. Maybe today is the 38th," Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti said. "For Los Angeles, it's a golden opportunity, one that we don’t take lightly."

The IOC proposal approved by the IOC membership is as follows: "Recognising the exceptional circumstances and unique opportunities presented by the candidatures of Los Angeles and Paris for the Olympic Games 2024, the International Olympic Committee takes the following decision:

1. To authorise the IOC Executive Board to conclude a tripartite agreement with Los Angeles and Paris and their respective NOCs for the simultaneous election of the host cities of the Olympic Games 2024 and 2028 during the 131st IOC Session in Lima;

2. Should such tripartite agreement be concluded, the 131st IOC Session will ratify the tripartite agreement, thereby electing one city for the Olympic Games 2024 and the other city for the Olympic Games 2028. To that effect, the 130th IOC Session hereby waives the seven-year deadline set out in Rule 33.2 of the Olympic Charter; and

3. Should such tripartite agreement not be concluded, the 131st IOC Session will proceed with the election of the host city 2024 in accordance with the current election procedure."

Earlier in the day, the delegations of Los Angeles 2024, led by Mayor Garcetti, and Paris 2024, led by the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, made outstanding and emotional presentations at the 2024 Candidate City Briefing.

"Ensuring the stability of the Olympic Games for 11 years is something extraordinary," the IOC President said later at a press conference with the two mayors and leaders from the two candidatures.

"That is why we say this is a great day for the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement, and it's a great day also for these two wonderful cities, these two great Olympic cities."