(ATR) Presidents from France and the United States lead reaction to the decision of Los Angeles agreeing to host the 2028 Olympic Games while Paris takes 2024.
The IOC, Paris 2024, and Los Angeles 2028 all called the decision a "win-win-win," for the Olympic movement.
Immediately after Los Angeles broadcast the news on Facebook live, all online and social media platforms shifted from LA 2024 to LA 2028 branding. Now, the Los Angeles city council is expected to review the new bid plan and could vote on the change as early as Aug. 9.
French President Emmanuel Macron released a statement "welcoming this very important step," in bringing the Olympic Games to Paris in 2024.
Macron’s U.S. counterpart Donald Trump said he is "proud to support LA 2028," which will bring the Olympics back to the United States "for the first time in a generation."
"The United States has a remarkable history of passionate and loyal support for the Olympic Movement," Trump said in a statement. "America always shines brightly during the Games, and LA 2028 will be no exception.
"I am confident that the Summer Games in Los Angeles will exemplify both the Olympic ideal and the American spirit, and we look forward to hosting them," said the president.
Charlie Battle, who was a key member of the bid for the Atlanta Olympics as well as a consultant for other bids, calls the double choice "an elegant solution".
"The current bid process reached a point that it didn't make sense," Battle tells Around the Rings.
"Cities would spend money to go to events all over the place. I think that the IOC restriction on the personal contact with IOC members led to this," he says.
In 1999, in the wake of the Salt Lake City bid scandal, the IOC banned visits by IOC members to bid cities as well as other contact with members.
"I am happy for LA and Paris. They are two deserving cities."
One sport that has a keen interest to how the 2024 and 2028 Olympic races plays out is surfing. Added to the 2020 Olympic program, surfing – like all of the new sports – will have to be re-approved for future Olympic programs. International Surfing Association President Fernando Aguerre says the federation is "stoked," with the upcoming double allocation.
"Both cities and countries have a rich culture and tradition in surfing," Aguerre said in a statement. "As the IOC, the 2024 and 2028 hosts continue to explore ways to enrich their sport programs, we look forward to sharing the same elements of youth, lifestyle and performance that lead to Surfing's inclusion in Tokyo 2020."
Not all reaction to yesterday’s decision was one of congratulations to the IOC and the two bid cities. Anti-Olympics group NOlympics LA condemned the LA City Council for attempting to "hastily rush this process," without proper vetting.
"This is a complete miscarriage of anything remotely resembling democracy," NOlympics LA said in a statement. "We insist that the local media acknowledge the lack of transparency and accountability there is in this last minute, hastily thrown together ‘plan.’ The council, Mayor, bid committee, Donald Trump and IOC are all colluding to thrust an unvetted plan onto the second largest city in America."
Opposition group Non Paris 2024 says yesterday’s announcement left "two cities whose elected officials are irresponsible enough to do everything in order to get the Olympic Games." The group maintained its belief that the Paris 2024 budget is "neither serious nor credible."
"At a time when the public authorities are revisiting all public expenditure on health, education, transport and so on, it is to say the least scandalous that France is blindly engaged in such [monumental] expenses," Non Paris 2024 added.
Written by Aaron Bauerand Ed Hula
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