IOC President Thomas Bach said that the "way cities are awarded Olympic Games must change because too many losers are created" under the current system, according to Karolos Grohmann of REUTERS. Bach added that the process "would not be altered mid-race" for '24, with Budapest, L.A. and Paris bidding for that year's summer Olympics. As expected, all three cities advanced to the next stage on Thursday but Bach said that the IOC "should think about future change." Paris is "campaigning for the third time in the past four bids." U.S. cities N.Y. and Chicago also lost out in '12 and '16, leaving L.A. hoping to make its third time "lucky" for the American candidacies." Bach: "It is not the purpose to produce losers. The real purpose is to produce the best possible host for the Olympic Games. We will have to look into this. I made it very clear the procedure for 2024 is under way and there we are very happy ... but we have to think long term." Under current rules, cities "can be eliminated at any stage of the two-year process before the final selection is put to a vote." For '24, the IOC introduced an invitation phase for potential bidders to "ensure they met general criteria and to eliminate weak candidacies." Bach said that "one thought is to extend the invitation phase so that more Games' details and plans are available for both the IOC and cities considering launching a bid" (REUTERS, 12/8). The AP reported when asked about speculation the IOC could award the 2024 and 2028 Games at the same time, Bach said, "Let us study this question, which is not an easy one" (AP, 12/8).