(ATR) The IOC tells Around the Rings it has received a "high level of interest" from NOCs wishing to bid for the 2024 Olympics.
Jacqueline Barrett, head of Olympic bid city coordination, told ATR that the IOC was pleased with the strong interest in the 2024 Games since the IOC opened its invitation phase last month.
She declined to say how many NOCs had so far expressed a desire to host the Games.
But she said the Agenda 2020 reforms passed in December – designed to reduce the complexity and costs of bidding and staging the Olympics – have had a "big impact" in encouraging NOCs to come forward.
"We are already engaging with NOCs," said Barrett.
The IOC working group for the new-look bidding procedure includes Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi. Both Barrett and Dubi are currently in Almaty, Kazakhstan for the IOC 2022 Evaluation Commission visit which wrapped up Wednesday.
Dubi said last month that he expected the IOC reforms to trigger considerable interest in the 2024 Games. On Jan. 15, the IOC sent letters to the world’s 205 NOCs explaining the three-phase bidding contest – invitation, applicant, candidate cities – and emphasizing how Agenda 2020 reforms have made the process more flexible for interested countries.
The Olympic Games chief said he expected most formal requests to be submitted to the IOC by the time of its executive board next week. The IOC will soon decide how it deals with the NOC proposals for 2024. A delegation may be appointed to visit potential bid cities or a seminar might be held in Lausanne.
However, Barrett told ATR in Almaty that there was no cut-off date for NOCs to express their interest in 2024 bidding. She also said the "exploratory phase" of the 2024 contest would likely be a discussion point at next week’s IOC Executive Board meeting in Rio.
During the invitation phase initiated by Agenda 2020 reforms, NOCs and potential bid cities are invited to discuss their initial ideas with the IOC; Sept. 15 is the final deadline for official applications for the 2024 Games.
Boston and Rome are so far the only confirmed bidders for the Olympics. Berlin or Hamburg as well as Paris are expected to enter the race. Budapest, Qatar and South Africa are among other possible bids.
Reported by Mark Bisson
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
