(ATR) Toronto Mayor John Tory has confirmed the city will not go through with a third attempt at hosting the Olympic Games.
Tory announced his long-awaited decision Tuesday morning, less than six hours before the IOC deadline to submit a letter of intent to bid for the Games.
"I believe that one day Toronto will be a great venue for the Olympics, but not in 2024," Tory told media gathered at Toronto City Hall.
The announcement confirms suspicions that Toronto will not bid that surfaced in media reports on Monday night. Tory says he made his decision late Monday afternoon after gathering as much info as possible before the deadline, including speaking with the IOC on Sunday.
After less than two months of deliberation following the end of the Pan American Games in July, Tory said he just didn’t have the time to get the business support necessary for a bid.
"We were quite a bit behind. When I sat down with business people, nobody was rushing forward with big checks," Tory said.
However, Tory did have the unanimous support of the Canadian Olympic Committee to proceed with the bid. Despite Tory’s decision, the COC says they look forward to a future Olympic bid.
"We respect the mayor’s decision today and appreciate the thorough consideration given to a potential candidature. We thank President Bach and the IOC for their unique cooperation throughout this process. The COC is determined to have the Olympics back in the country at the earliest opportunity," said COC president Marcel Aubut.
Tory did not rule out hosting the Olympics further down the line. He said now is just not the right time to bid for the Games.
"I have no doubt that the Olympic Games would put the eyes of the world on Toronto. I love this city, and I want nothing more than to be able to show the rest of the world our spirit, our people, our strength, our values, the way we live together," he said.
Tory posited Toronto could bid for other major international events to showcase the city, including the FIFA World Cup or the World’s Fair. The mayor will create a panel to discuss potential bids for these events in the future.
Excitement began to build about a possible 2024 bid following a successful edition of the Pan Am Games in Toronto this July. Rio de Janeiro followed a similar path to hosting the Olympics by staging a successful Pan Ams in 2007 and subsequently bidding to host the 2016 Games.
The Pan Ams in Toronto brought increased tourism, the creation of new Olympic-caliber venues and an athletes' village that will be turned into mixed-use housing. This type of economic development is what proponents of a 2024 bid thought the Olympics could build upon.
Tory believes economic development can be obtained without bringing the Olympics to Toronto in 2024. He wants to work with city council leadership to improve the infrastructure, public transportation and housing issues in Toronto through projects not associated with the Olympics.
With Toronto out of the race, Los Angeles becomes the only North American city bidding for the Games. North America has not hosted the Summer Games since 1996 in Atlanta, an Olympics for which Toronto also bid.
Four other cities are in the 2024 bidding race: Paris, Rome, Hamburg and Budapest. The IOC will choose the winner at the IOC Session in Lima, Peru in 2017.
Written by Kevin Nutley
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