KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTING —-  Barring major accidents, Paris will host the 2024 Olympics and Los Angeles the 2o28 Games after the executive board of the IOC backed a joint award proposal.

Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, was a happy man after the decision ratified his own preference to resolve the threatened crisis after both major cities had been left as survivors in the bidding race for 2024.

Los Angeles and Paris . . . both winners

A working group of the IOC’s four vice-presidents confirmed that International Olympic Committee could offer a mechanism which would not breach the terms of the Olympic Charter so an extraordinary session on July 11 nd 12 will ratify the recommendation ahead of a formal vote of allocations in Limea in September.

Bach confirmed, in a media briefing in Lausanne, that formal votes by the full IOC were necessary should still be put to the vote of the IOC members..

This will be the first time in the post-war era that the IOC will have awarded more than one Games.

Bach made no forecasts about which city will stage which Games. He said: “We have discussed all this with Los Angeles and Paris but we have not yet negotiated with these two cities.”

However Paris has a restricted window of political opportunity while Los Angeles has all venues available and can stage the Games sooner or later – which will mean later.

Earlier this LA 2024 chairman Casey Wasserman opened up the prospect of being satisfied with 2028 in a lengthy statement of reassurance to the IOC.

Amid all of this the executive board also proposed changes to the bidding system for the 2026 Winter Olympics. This will last only one year, not two as per the current system. At least that should result in a significant cost saving all round.

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