Macron to Join Paris 2024 Delegation in Lausanne for July Bid Cities Briefing
May 18, 2017
By Christian Radnedge
New French President Emmanuel Macron will definitely join the Paris 2024 bid delegation in Lausanne in July for their presentation to the International Olympic Committee.
Paris 2024 received the significant boost from the President during their meeting at the Elysee Palace on Tuesday morning, where Macron reaffirmed his commitment to supporting the French capital’s bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The meeting came at the end of the IOC evaluation commission’s three-day inspection of Paris, following a similar visit to rival candidate city Los Angeles last week.
Paris 2024 co-chair Tony Estanguet confirmed to reporters at the bid media centre that Macron will be joining the team in Lausanne for the candidate cities briefing – a first for a Head of State – but did not confirm whether he would join them for the final decision at the IOC session in Lima in September.
“Mr Macron formally said he wants to be with the product right up to its victory,” Estanguet said after confirming the Lausanne news. “He wants to be present for the decisive moment without specifically saying he will be in Lima.
“But Lima is not the priority [right now].”
The head of the commission, Patrick Baumann, praised Paris for its “remarkable venues” and said that it had a very “robust” bid to host the Games in 2024.
Last week, Baumann had described LA’s bid as “mind-blowing” and made the effort to say this week that Paris’ bid was “equally as mind-blowing”, emphasising the difficult decision the IOC will have to make in choosing between the two bids on September 13.
There is the possibility that one of the cities will be awarded the 2028 Games, as the IOC executive board meets next month to discuss the proposal that a double hosting award should take place.
That would require a significant rule change to the IOC’s bidding process, which would require approval from the entire membership. So for the moment, the two bidding cities remain completely focused on the race for 2024.
The commission will return to Lausanne and will meet again at the end of the month.
