Paris goes all out to host Olympics 2024

Cape Town - In six months’ time the International Olympic Committee will take its decision on who will host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Choosing the partner that will organise the world’s greatest sporting event is a difficult job for the IOC. Drawing on the experience acquired in recent campaigns, Paris 2024 is now even more determined than ever and ready to meet the challenge, a century after the last Summer Games organised in France with the inspiration of Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

"Now a member of the IOC and co-president of Paris 2024, I am motivated by the desire to share the passion which drives me in my daily life with young people around the globe," said Tony Estanguet, co-president of Paris 2024.

In his view, the 2024 Olympic Games in France would be a unique opportunity to welcome the whole world by offering a spectacular celebration in a Paris transformed into an Olympic park, from the Invalides to the Eiffel Tower, from the Grand Palais to the Champs-Elysées.

"In 2024 we want to offer the world a popular and joyful celebration open to as many as possible, a moment when people come together as never before," said Estanguet.

"I am convinced that Paris 2024 is the partner of trust that the IOC needs. The partner that can set the games on the path of responsibility, thinking of the legacy as much as the celebration and having a decisive impact on education through sport, inclusion, health and mixing."

He emphasised that France has the facilities and the know-how to organise major events.

"All the players in civil society are united behind a project in the national interest. After four bids, Paris and France are stronger and more determined than ever. We are ready to share an Olympic Games that will stand out in history," continued Estanguet.

"Paris 2024 gives us the means to show that the Olympic Games can be an opportunity for organising cities and that the Olympic movement is an opportunity for the whole world. Paris 2024 gives us the means to help revive cities’ interest in this marvellous event so that the Olympic movement continues to inspire people all over the world."