Bach Laments Political Downfall of Rome 2024 -- Bidding Roundup

(ATR) IOC president Thomas Bach says the Rome 2024 bid would have left a positive legacy on the city if its leaders would have allowed the project to continue.

Bach wrote to the Italian Olympic Committee in a letter that was made public on Monday saying that the decision by Rome’s Mayor Virginia Raggi not to support the bid would not inhibit the "excellent relations between the IOC and CONI".

"Based on the information we have received over the last few days, it has been clearly demonstrated that the City Council’s decision was politically motivated for reasons beyond the Olympic project," Bach wrote.

The bid had support from the regional and national levels with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi being an outspoken champion of the candidacy.

Rome suspended its bid following the city council vote where the bid committee was not offered the opportunity to make its case to the council. The council voted 30-12 to withdraw its support for the bid on Sep. 29.

The city’s withdrawal leaves Budapest, Los Angeles and Paris as the final three contenders to host the 2024 Olympics. The IOC will choose the host city at its September 2017 Session in Lima, Peru.

Former Nobel Winner Lauds Paris’ Social Economy

Muhammad Yunus is opening a branch of the Yunus Center in Paris, calling the 2024 bid city the "global leader in social economy".

"[Mayor] Anne Hidalgo advances social business initiatives to a level never achieved before," Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2006, writes in an Op-Ed. "I find her commitment absolutely exemplary (…) and her economic methods both original and sustainable."

Paris 2024 will use this endorsement and its strong social economy to bolster its bid.

"Paris hosts thousands of initiatives related to social economy: the development of local supply chains, the creation of social integration companies, the increased use of recycling and recovery solutions to give products a fresh start," says Hidalgo.

"These reliable and effective solutions strengthen economic attractiveness, enable major innovative events to take place, while at the same time making the city more inclusive, sustainable and committed to the value of solidarity."

Paris 2024 bid co-president Tony Estanguet calls the opening of the Yunus Center a positive sign and source of opportunities for citizens and athletes alike.

"First of all, the Olympic Games we are envisioning for Paris 2024 are a lever of change in society," says Estanguet. "Social innovation must be one of the tools used to make this change come true, here in Paris and, through our bid, internationally."

Budapest Hosts European Table Tennis Champs

The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is meeting with the Budapest 2024 bid team on the sidelines of the European Table Tennis Championships now underway in Budapest.

Budapest is hosting the event for the third time and will use the competition as practice for staging the Olympic table tennis tournament if the city is awarded the 2024 Games.

"It’s an incredibly popular sport in Hungary, and this support can be seen in our players’ success, who come in at second place on the World Championship gold medal table," said Budapest 2024 director of sport and venues Attila Mizsér. "We are certain that this enthusiasm comes across in our plans for table tennis in 2024."

The ITTF and Budapest 2024 will hold workshops and venue visits to allow the federation to review the bid plan. The review covers venue planning, competition management and sport legacy sessions.

Budapest will also host the ITTF World Championships in 2019.

"Budapest presented a very impressive bid to the members, and I am confident that our Hungarian friends will put on a fantastic show for us in three years' time," said ITTF president Thomas Weikert.

The European Championships run through Oct. 23.

Los Angeles Readies for ANOC

The Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) General Assembly is now less than one month away, set to kick off on Nov. 13.

Los Angeles 2024 will be sending a full team of 10 delegates as allowed in the IOC's Summer 2024 bidding guidelines. Each bid city is allowed to make a 15 minute presentation to the IOC, the first opportunity to do so during the two-year bid race.

LA 2024 tells Around the Rings the bid team is ready to showcase its bid to Olympic leaders from around the world.

"We are eager to present our vision of a high-tech, low-risk and sustainable new Games for a new era," says LA 2024 spokesperson Jeff Millman.

"As always, we are excited for the opportunity to attend this prestigious gathering of Olympic Movement leaders and we look forward to listening and learning from the NOCs which play such an important role in preparing and supporting their teams for the Olympic Games."

The ANOC General Assembly will come to a close on Nov. 16.

Written by Kevin Nutley

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