LA 2024 and top USOC officials are in Lausanne, Switzerland, for three pivotal days in the race to host the 2024 Olympics. LA 2024 sees its mission this week as twofold: Upend the conventional wisdom that Paris will get the 2024 Games and L.A. must wait until '28, and, if unable to accomplish that, begin to secure financial concessions in exchange for agreeing to wait.
On Monday, LA 2024 and Paris 2024 gathered at the Olympic Museum for ceremonial photo ops after an IOC exec board meeting. On Tuesday, both cities will present their technical plans to the full body, with new French President Emmanuel Macron scheduled to speak for Paris. Presentations will continue Wednesday.
Late Tuesday, the IOC will convene a special session to formally approve the plan to award '24 and '28 as a package deal, paving the way for formal three-way negotiations over order between Paris, L.A. and the IOC. Under normal circumstances, the week's events would be a point of high drama in an intense campaign, but the joint award plan has eliminated much of the suspense.
'A VERY GOOD SIGN': REUTERS' Karolos Grohmann reported Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said that Macron's presence at an IOC meeting this week "will be key to what will hopefully be a successful Paris bid." Heads of state are "usually present at the host city vote," which this year will take place in September, to give their bid a final push, but Macron "has opted to be present now." Hidalgo: "It is a very good sign to say that we are confident and we will win" (REUTERS, 7/10).
