Reporting From Lausanne, Switzerland – Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who arrived in Lausanne to join her 2024 Olympic bid team for rehearsals ahead of a critical Tuesday presentation to International Olympic Committee (IOC) members, made clear her confidence in the French Capital’s chances against rival Los Angeles.
“We are confident and we will win,” Hidalgo told international reporters at the Lausanne Palace Hotel where the IOC Executive Board was meeting Monday.
“We are very confident because we worked a lot, a lot, and we will convince all IOC members that Paris in 2024 is the right city for the Games.”
Along with the Mayor, bid co-chair Tony Estanguet emphasized the value of the inclusion to the team of French President Emmanuel Macron, who is set to join on Monday for presentation rehearsals and a meeting with IOC President Thomas Bach at the Olympic Museum.
Estanguet said “[The President] is very, very supportive and we have a very strong relationship with him, and you will see, it will be strong tomorrow.”
Paris is widely considered the favorite to win the 2024 Olympic Games bid on the 100th anniversary of the city’s last staging and as the last European bid standing after Hamburg, Rome and Budapest all dropped from the race.
The IOC will vote Tuesday on a proposal to award Paris and LA both the 2024 and 2028 Games, and in that case Paris is seen as the likely 2024 choice due to limited land availability for the project that rules out 2028 for the city.
“Our bid is a bid for 2024,” the Mayor said.
“But we are supporting the IOC in the definition of the new process because we think it is very important to have more cities than two cities in this competition.
“And why do we have just two cities now? Because when the Mayor goes to build a bid for the Olympic Games it is a strong risk for the Mayors.
“You see that in Europe we are alone now because Hamburg, because Rome, because Budapest, after referendum, the bid is stopped and I think it is very important that the IOC open a new way for cities and we are supportive of this new process.
“Eric Garcetti, the Mayor of LA, is a friend of mine, we work very well together, and I think maybe between both mayors – and this very strong relationship – we can find a way to have three winners with the IOC in this competition.”
Both bid teams will join a reception with IOC stakeholders Monday night before presentations Tuesday morning. Los Angeles is scheduled for its closed-door presentation at the SwissTech Conference Center at 9:00 am CET and Paris will follow at 10:30.
On Tuesday afternoon at an IOC all-members Session the dual-award Olympic bid option will be debated and go to a vote.
The final election for the 2024, and possibly 2028 host city will occur September 13 in Lima, Peru.
