The IOC will award the 2024 and 2028 Olympics to Paris and L.A. in an "unprecedented double vote," as the Games organizers "seek to secure the immediate future of the world's largest sporting event," according to Murad Ahmed of the FINANCIAL TIMES. On Friday, an IOC working committee recommended that its 95 members should award the next two available summer Games in a "simultaneous vote." A final decision will be taken in July. Though the sequence in which each city will hold the Games is yet to be decided, it has become "highly likely" that the 2024 Olympics will be staged in Paris, while the 2028 Games will take place in L.A., according to three people familiar with the IOC's private deliberations. One person close to the talks said that L.A. "could be encouraged to stand aside for four years by being offered a higher share of revenues from sponsorship and broadcast rights" (FT, 6/9). In N.Y., Paskin & Boudway reported IOC President Thomas Bach praised Paris and L.A., saying that having two "such strong" bids "represents a golden opportunity for the Olympic Games." A joint award would be "a strong symbol of stability," he added. Behind the recommendation is an "uncomfortable reality" for the IOC. Cities are not "lining up to host" the Games the way they once were. Bach also made clear that the IOC will not have detailed discussions with L.A. and Paris until the membership approves a joint award (BLOOMBERG, 6/9). The BBC reported L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and LA 2024 Chair Casey Wasserman said in statement, "We welcome the IOC Executive Board's decision to recognize two excellent bids from two of the world's greatest cities. With no new permanent venues to build and unwavering public support, Los Angeles is an eternal Olympic city and ideal partner for the IOC." The team behind Paris 2024 also released a statement which read, "Paris 2024 welcomes today's decision by the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee to review bidding processes and also organise an Extraordinary Session of the IOC in Lausanne in July" (BBC, 6/9). REUTERS' Brian Homewood reported Bach "heavily implied" that, if the recommendation was passed, there would be "no chance for other candidates to enter the race" for '28. He also denied getting the 2028 Games "would be a consolation prize." Bach said that the board had proposed the same 28 sports for '24 which featured in Rio de Janeiro in '16, provided they "comply with the Olympic charter and this includes the world anti-doping code" (REUTERS, 6/9).
MIXED-GENDER RELAYS: In London, Martyn Ziegler reported men and women will compete against each other in mixed-sex relay races at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as part of a "radical overhaul of the Games." Olympics execs have "given the go-ahead" for mixed relays in 4x400m athletics, 4x100m swimming and the triathlon -- a move that is "likely to convince" British Olympic men’s champion Alistair Brownlee to compete in Tokyo. Brownlee, men's triathlon champion in '12 and '16, has been focusing on longer Ironman events since Rio but said that the prospect of going for two medals in Tokyo is an "appealing one." More "controversial" is the decision to add two extra events to swimming, the men's 800m and women's 1,500m freestyle, in a program that critics believe "already allows the possibility for competitors to win multiple medals at races of similar distances." In Tokyo, archery, judo and table tennis will also have mixed-team events and the program will see new sports such as three-on-three basketball, rock climbing, skateboarding and BMX freestyle included to "try to attract younger audiences," as well as a return of the madison event in cycling (LONDON TIMES, 6/9).
RUGBY SEVENS: STUFF reported rugby sevens will "likely be retained as an Olympic sport until at least" '24 after its debut in last year's Rio Games. The IOC exec board announced the decision on Friday. An IOC session in Lima, Peru, in September will consider the board's recommendation and World Rugby Chair Bill Beaumont said that the news was "exciting as sevens hopes to cements its status as an Olympic sport" (STUFF, 6/10).
IWF WARNING: Homewood also reported the Int'l Weightlifting Federation has been warned that the sport "risks exclusion from the 2024 Olympic Games" if it does not provide a "satisfactory" report about how it is dealing with doping by December. Bach said, "The IWF has until December 2017 to deliver a satisfactory report to the IOC on how they will address the massive doping problem this sport is facing." Bach said that the report was a condition for weightlifting remaining among the 28 Olympic sports in '24 (REUTERS, 6/9).
