Grand oral this morning from the Paris bid committee in front of the IOC members in Lausanne.
For 75 minutes, as the presentation is planned to last, they will have to convince the delegates that their bid is indeed the best!
The Paris 2024 delegation consists of 13 people: Emmanuel Macron, the head of state; Tony Estanguet and Bernard Lapasset, the two co-presidents of the bid; Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris; Guy Drut, IOC member; Denis Masseglia, the president of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF); Emmanuelle Assmann, the president of the French Paralympic Committee; Valérie Pécresse, the president of the Ile-de-France region; Laura Flessel, the minister of sports; Etienne Thobois, the CEO of Paris 2024; athletes Sarah Ourahmoune (boxing), Emmeline Ndongue (basketball) and Michael Jérémiasz (wheelchair tennis).
The IOC has published the evaluation commission report for the 2024 Games. Unsurprisingly, it is favorable to the two final cities in the running, Los Angeles and Paris.
Patrick Baumann, the chairman of the said commission following Frankie Fredericks’ withdrawal, set the tone when concluding the commission’s visits on May 12 in Los Angeles, and then on May 16 in Paris.
In California, he spoke of innovation and economic market. In Paris, he mentioned culture and heritage.
“Los Angeles is one of the most attractive sports and recreational destinations on the planet, while Paris has an unrivaled history,” emphasizes the report. “Los Angeles and Paris have presented the best of their city, and this best is what is done for the Olympic Games.”
It’s hard to surpass this in terms of praise and recognition. It’s up to the IOC members to choose, not the name of the winner, but the order of the laureates, it being understood that the IOC will deliberate the double awarding, for 2024 and 2028.
If Paris seemed to have the favor of the forecast until now, an opinion poll conducted in February by the IOC reveals a support rate of 78% among the Los Angeles population, the highest in recent history for a U.S. bid, with only 8% of those polled declaring hostility towards the Games.
The same opinion poll, conducted at the same time in Paris, shows less wide support for the French bid: a support rate of 63%, but 23% opposing the project.
Will the inveterate habit of the French of never being satisfied once again be the cause of a setback?
