Courtesy of LA2024, Southern California.
Like the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim, the top two contenders have stayed in the lead pack for the entire race and have now broken free. The cities of Paris and Los Angeles are sprinting furiously to the finish – and it is said that Paris has nudged in the lead to win the 2024 Summer Olympic Game bid on September 13th when the International Olympic Committee votes.
The 2024 Olympics will either be held in Los Angeles or Paris. The lobbying is feverish with the International Olympic Committee’s 2024 Evaluation Committee visiting both cities.
Paris is seen as the favorite to win the 2024 Olympic Games and Los Angeles is seen as a backup that may be awarded the 2028 Olympics.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is hosting the committee this week and understands his city’s underdog status. “We’ve been the underdogs, we’ve been counted out, we’ve been actually thrown out,” said Garcetti referring to the fact that the United States Olympic Committee had originally selected Boston as its first choice. “[But] we’ve come back up with a smile on our face and a ‘can do’ attitude.”
The plans in Los Angeles have been praised far and wide while utilizing many existing facilities and sporting venues that have been used for professional, international and collegiate championships over the years. But the proposed Los Angeles site for the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim will be brand new canals within the city of Long Beach – a stark contrast over the Seine that first saw Olympic swimmers competing at the 1900 Paris Olympics (Games of the III Olympiad).
The marathon swimming canals in Long Beach will be within one of the five Olympics zones (Valley, Olympic & Paralympic Village, Downtown, South Bay and Long Beach) while the Seine runs through the heart of Paris.
While the Los Angeles mayor is doing his best and showing off Southern California to welcome the IOC members, the new French President Emmanuel Macron will meet these same members after his May 14th inauguration as one of his first official acts as President. The French team is pulling out its political heavyweights including former French President Nicolas Sarkozy who is also expected to attend.
Copyright © 2008-2017 by World Open Water Swimming Association