Eight of France's "best known cities will host football matches if Paris is awarded the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, including Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse," according to Nick Butler of INSIDE THE GAMES. Under the plans, the finals of "both male and female competitions would take place in Paris' Parc des Princes, the 48,712 capacity stadium in the south-west of the capital" which has been home to Paris St. Germain since '73. It would be the "smallest venue to host the final of the Olympic football tournament since the Stadio Flaminio in Rome staged the final in 1960 when Yugoslavia beat Denmark 3-1 in the final watched by a crowd of 40,000." Matches during Paris 2024 "would also take place in Lille, Bordeaux, Nice and Nantes, meaning France's eight largest cities by population would all be among the hosts." A list of nine sites released by organizers "is completed by Saint-Étienne." Only "eight cities would ultimately be involved" (INSIDE THE GAMES, 12/19). GAMES BIDS reported the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games bid "launched its Athletes’ Committee Saturday." The committee will be co-chaired by Teddy Riner, the Judo Olympic Gold Medalist at the London 2012 Olympic Games and eight-time world champion, and Marie-Amelie Le Fur, the 100m Gold Medalist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games and four-time world champion. The Paris 2024 Athletes' Committee "will support and advise the bid committee on the technical elements of the bid proposal." Riner and Le Fur "will also become board members of the Paris 2024 Public Interest Group and they will join fellow athletes who have vital roles to play within the broader group." Members of the Public Interest Group for Paris 2024:
- Tony Estanguet (triple Olympic Champion in Canoeing)
- Marie-José Pere (triple Olympic Champion in Athletics)
- Jean-Philippe Gatien (double Olympic Medalist in Table Tennis)
- Thierry Rey (Olympic Champion in Judo)
- Jean-Christophe Rolland (Olympic Champion in Rowing)
- Étienne Thobois (Olympian who competed in Badminton) (GAMES BIDS, 12/20).
