2023-06-28 06:02:39
With less than 400 days to go before the opening of the Paris 2024 Summer Games, and while the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is giving itself time before deciding whether or not to participate Russian and Belarusian athletes, the Olympic Committee and United States Paralympic (USOPC) expressed a position earlier this week that reinforces the institution of Lausanne (Switzerland) in its pragmatism.
Gene Sykes, then General Manager of LA 2028, in September 2017 in Lima, Peru (Credits – Gene Sykes / Twitter page)
In a very Olympian formulation, the President of the USOPC took advantage of a press conference organized this Monday, June 26, 2023 to discuss, in particular, the – sensitive – question of a possible participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in the Olympic Games of Paris 2024.
If the IOC has chosen to move forward with the greatest caution, while paving the way for the reintegration of these athletes, the USOPC today seems eager to support the Olympic institution in the reflection carried out and, in finein the decision that will be made.
As Gene Sykes, USOPC President and former CEO of the Los Angeles 2028 Bid Committee, put it:
We believe that there are many challenges to be overcome to ensure that we respect the Olympic values and at the same time support the athletes.
We were quite measured and willing to give the IOC the opportunity to explore the possibility of seeing how Russian and Belarusian athletes who are neutral – truly neutral – might take part in international competitions.
This is the approach we have taken so far, making sure to observe the situation carefully, and engaging constructively with the IOC to share our views..
The desire for co-construction with the IOC here reflects a state of mind that has driven the USOPC for several years.
In fact, while palpable tensions were noted in the mid-2000s, the trend has since evolved considerably and the relationship of trust between the two authorities is perfectly controlled and maintained.
Already, when the IOC was under the fire of criticism – sometimes harsh – concerning its decision to wait before deciding on the case of Tokyo 2020 in the light of the health crisis of the Covid-19the USOPC had adopted a course of action in line with that expressed at the time by the Lausanne institution.
Of course, we should not overlook the fact that the American body is also aware of its own interests in following the decisions emanating from the IOC, all the more so if we consider the forthcoming organization of the Summer Games of Los Angeles 2028 and, for ten years now, the stated ambition of hosting a new edition of the Winter Games.
View of the renovated Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Games cauldron (Credits – Rice-Eccles Stadium)
With Salt Lake City (Utah), the application and the project are already secured.
After an orchestrated selection in December 2018, the candidacy of the Host City of the 2002 Olympic Games developed its concept by taking advantage of the reforms carried out by the IOC highlighting an increased dialogue with the contenders for the Games. The relationship of trust thus materialized little by little and, today, it seems certain that Salt Lake City will once once more become an Olympic City.
The deadline has yet to be determined.
For Salt Lake City, the preferred option is that of 2034. The latter is indeed considered more appropriate with regard to the calendar sequence with LA 2028 which might harm the strategy. marketing of the capital of Utah in the case of too close a designation.
For the IOC, Salt Lake City undeniably represents a comfortable safety cushion, especially if we note the very high level of popular support – 80% or more – and the unfailing institutional support of the American candidacy.
Also, in the event that Stockholm (Sweden) manages to advance its project for 2030 without a hitch, the Olympic institution might well be willing to designate Salt Lake City in the same interval – i.e. from 2024 – for the organization of the Olympic Games. 2034.
As was the case in the summer of 2017 with the adoption of the principle of dual allocation 2024-2028, the IOC and the United States would then be working together to secure the Olympic model for the decade to come.
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