Paris 2024 Olympics nearly assured as Los Angeles agrees to 2028 Games

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Paris moved within a hair's breadth on Monday of formally being chosen to host the 2024 Summer Olympics after rival candidate city Los Angeles (LA) agreed to accept the consolation prize of the 2028 Games in a rare two-way contest between the cities.

Both cities were competing for the 2024 Summer Games after several other contenders withdrew, and the stage was set for Paris to win its bid when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed that Los Angeles had officially embraced the later date of 2028.

AFP Photo

“The IOC welcomes this decision of the Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Candidature Committee,” said IOC President Thomas Bach in a statement.

IOC's unprecedented move of awarding two Games in tandem turned the spotlight on security challenges facing the French capital while giving Los Angeles, which last hosted the Olympics 33 years ago, ample time to upgrade its public transportation system.

Residents of Los Angeles, which ranks as America's second-largest city by population, expressed a mix of enthusiasm for the Games and anxiety about placing additional strains on the city's notoriously heavy traffic.

Athletes perform on a barge floating on the river Seine by the Alexandre III and the Invalides bridges in Paris in a bid to promote the candidacy of the city of Paris for the Summer Olympics Games in 2024. /AFP Photo

"It was a great thing the last time we had it here in LA, and I think it will be a boon for business and kind of bring unity back to LA," Los Angeles resident Domenic Ferrante, 53, told Reuters.

The hosting agreement for Los Angeles commits the IOC to furnishing the city financial contributions totaling 2 billion US dollars, the committee said.

（Source: Reuters）

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