Everything has already been said, but Paris and Los Angeles will have their day of glory as hosts of the 2024 and 2028 Olympics, respectively, this Wednesday, after several turbulent days due to the corruption scandal of Rio-2016.
Paris-2024, Los Angeles-2028, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will endorse the tripartite agreement signed in July in Lima on Wednesday, sealing the first dual allocation of Olympic venues in history.
It is a "golden opportunity," said the IOC President, Thomas Bach, during a press conference at the 131st session of the committee meeting in Lima.
At the same time, it represents a relief for the committee in the face of failed bids for 2024 and the bleak prospects for applicants in 2028, due to the very high costs that generated conflicts with civil societies.
Boston, Hamburg, Rome, and Budapest withdrew their bids one by one, leaving only the French capital and the US metropolis.
The hosts of the 2024 and 2028 Games, along with London, will become the only cities to host the Olympic Games three times.
Paris will celebrate the centenary of its second Olympic event in 2024, a journey that began in 1900, with some setbacks like in 2005 when London won the bid for the 2012 Games.
Los Angeles hosted the editions of 1932 and 1984 and is the first host city designated 11 years in advance.
- Time for transparency -
Representatives from both cities will have 25 minutes to present their projects and positions, perhaps allocating more time than planned to talk about transparency, just days after the corruption scandal involved in the vote for the selection of Rio-2016, which erupted strongly during the IOC session in Lima.
The meeting in the Peruvian capital was supposed to be a walk in the park but it became a headache for the authorities of both cities and also for Bach.
The IOC President did not avoid the scandal during the opening ceremony held on Tuesday night at the National Grand Theater in Lima.
"We have solid rules to prevent misconduct and quickly sanction those behaviors (...) When these cases arise, we will take the necessary measures. Protecting the integrity of sport is our priority. This is how we move towards the future," said Bach about the accusations against the president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB), Carlos Nuzman.
Brazilian authorities denounced "an international corruption scheme" last week through which allegedly two million dollars were paid to African members of the IOC to vote in favor of Rio-2016 in 2009.
The case involves the former governor of Rio, the detained Sergio Cabral, and Nuzman, who was called to testify.
The Olympic organization is waiting for evidence from Brazil before taking action. Until then, Bach will have to keep making penalty saves in the gate of the IOC.
- Infrastructure? We already have it -
The infrastructure works, a central part of the presentations on Wednesday, do not seem to be a problem for either city.
Paris and Los Angeles have put together modern and exemplary bids that would reduce costs by using existing facilities, said the IOC in July.
Paris has already built 95% of the necessary infrastructure for 2024, although it will need to invest around 3 billion dollars to renovate or build some facilities, and half of that amount will be allocated to the Olympic Village.
Los Angeles will receive contributions of 1.8 billion dollars, 300 million more than Paris due to the larger scope of its contracts, and with that, it will finance part of the 5.3 billion dollars budgeted when it was competing for the 2024 bid.
- Show of hands -
IOC delegates will choose in a single, informal, show of hands vote the two cities that will organize the next two Olympic Games after Tokyo-2020.
This means that there will be no secret electronic vote, as is customary when the IOC selects host cities for the Olympic Games, nor successive stages in which candidates are eliminated until a winner is chosen.
Then it unleashed an endless celebration. Screams, jubilation, and tears flooded the winning delegation. In Lima, surely not. Handshakes, discreet smiles, and mutual congratulations between Angelinos and Parisians in a day with no losers.