LOS ANGELES could condede the 2024 Olympics to Paris – so that they can guarantee hosting four years later.
The California metropolis could do the deal before Friday’s IOC get together, knowing that Donald Trump will definitely be out of office by 2028.
Ahead of a key meeting of the International Olympic Committee executive board, the French capital is now seen as the favourite to host the 2024 Games.
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But that doesn’t mean that LA will get left out in the cold.
The strangest Olympic bidding race in decades will take clearer shape when the IOC board weighs opening up the 2024 contest to also include the 2028 award in September.
The expected agreement would fulfil IOC President Thomas Bach’s wish to avoid making a loser of either world-class candidate, though it must be ratified by the Olympic body’s voting members.
And the LA 2024 bidding team know they would not have Trump involved, with him guaranteed to be out of office by 2024 and another new president in the Oval Office.
By meeting on Friday, the IOC can give the required month notice to upgrade an already scheduled 2024 campaign event in Lausanne into a formal session with rule-changing power.
On July 11, up to 95 members are due in Lausanne to see LA and Paris bid leaders present their projects.
The likely process lets IOC members retain their most important job of voting for Olympic hosts on September 13 in Lima, Peru, to open the regular session.
That’s because the issue of which city gets 2024 and which must wait four more years will not be resolved Friday.
Still, LA officials have set a tone suggesting they could accept 2028.
That would help give the IOC clarity and security for the next decade after a turbulent period of cost overruns by Olympic host cities and local voters sinking potential bids, including some former rivals in the current contest.
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LA mayor Eric Garcetti said: “My dream is not so much just to bring the Olympics here, but is to bring youth sports for free to every zip code.”
Both seek to follow London as three-time Olympic hosts. Paris hosted in 1900 and 1924, and Los Angeles in 1932 and 1984.
Almost 40 years ago, LA was left as the only candidate when the Olympic hosting brand suffered in the 1970s.
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