Olympics: Paris, LA guaranteed to co-host 2024 or 2028 Games, says IOC

Paris and Los Angeles are probably getting the Summer Olympics for 2024 and 2028. It's just not clear which city will host in which year.
The International Olympic Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to break with tradition and award two games at once.

Paris and LA are the only competitors left for 2024. But it's been clear since early this year that the IOC is leaning toward awarding the next two games at the same time, to streamline the selection process and provide greater financial stability to the games.
The decision was made by consensus at a meeting of IOC members in Lausanne, Switzerland, after a strong lobbying effort by IOC boss Thomas Bach who wanted both cities, which had been rivals for 2024, to get the Games.
Hosting a modern Olympics practically guarantees massive debt and cost overruns, and many cities have abandoned bids recently. Researchers at Oxford's Saïd Business School estimate the cost overrun for the 2016 Summer Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro, was $1.6 billion.

"Brazil is not a unique case. All summer and winter games that we've studied have shown cost overruns," wrote Bent Flyvbjerg, the lead researcher. "For a city and country to host the games is a huge undertaking and one of the most costly and financially risky megaprojects they can undertake."
IOC Vice President John Coates suggested Tuesday that the Paris and Los Angeles Olympic committees will be left to figure out who should host in which year. The decision would then be ratified in September.
If the two cities can't settle the question of who would get which games, the IOC would decide in September. In that case, the 2028 games could be open to additional bidders.

July 11, 2017