French President François Hollande "treated IOC President Thomas Bach with a special gift:" an Olympic flag from the 1924 Olympic games that were held in Paris, according to Samuel Petrequin of the AP. Hollande also had a "special message." He said, "This Olympic flag dates back to nearly a century. It will be a century old when Paris will host the Games in 2024." Paris is competing against Budapest, Rome and L.A. After meeting with French athletes and Paris bid leaders during a two-day visit in the French capital, Bach met Hollande at the Elysee Palace on Sunday to discuss the bid. He told Hollande he was "impressed" by the Paris dossier and "the strong support the bid is enjoying." Bach: "The Paris bid is a very, very strong bid because of the unity and the large support it is sparking off. Personally, I'm very impressed by the unity among both the sporting and political worlds." The Paris bid "is also in line with the IOC's Agenda 2020, a set of recommendations encouraging bidding cities to promote maximizing the use of existing facilities" and infrastructure to save money (AP, 10/2).
HOLLANDE PROMISES SAFETY: REUTERS' Julien Pretot reported should Paris be selected to host the 2024 Olympics, Hollande said that France is "well equipped to stage a safe Games because of the security measures that are in place after the recent terror attacks." He said, "We want to remind you, and you know it, that France is able to host big events -- recently with Euro 2016 but also with some 40 world and European championships across all sports these past years. We have the savoir faire and the technology for big events but we can also ensure appropriate safety. We have ensured security for the events I just mentioned. It is our main priority and everyone can understand why" (REUTERS, 10/2).
CRACKING A JOKE: XINHUA reported Bach met 400 athletes at France's National Institute of Sport, Expertise & Performance (INSEP) on Saturday to kick off the visit to Paris. He was given a tour of the "state-of-the-art sports facilities" at INSEP by Paris 2024 co-Chairs Tony Estanguet and Bernard Lapasset before Bach delivered a speech to the athletes. He joked, "I worked 40 years to be received by INSEP. In my time as an athlete, the French fencers refused to invite me here to show me the keys to their success" (XINHUA, 10/1). Bach completed his visit at a football match between refugees and French athletes organized by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. On Sunday, Bach started the "We Run Paris" 10km run near the Louvre museum. With 13,000 runners taking part, the event is the latest to take place in central Paris (Paris 2024).
