Budapest 2024: Choosing Budapest Makes Agenda 2020 Real

(ATR) Budapest 2024 tells ATR the bid allows IOC to realize its sustainability goals.

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Hungarian pilot and world champion Peter Besenyei flies under the oldest Hungarian bridge, the 'Lanchid' (Chain Bridge) with his 'Corvus Racer' plane on May 1, 2015 during a flying and car show around the Danube River of Budapest downtown.  AFP PHOTO / ATTILA KISBENEDEK        (Photo credit should read ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP/Getty Images)
Hungarian pilot and world champion Peter Besenyei flies under the oldest Hungarian bridge, the 'Lanchid' (Chain Bridge) with his 'Corvus Racer' plane on May 1, 2015 during a flying and car show around the Danube River of Budapest downtown. AFP PHOTO / ATTILA KISBENEDEK (Photo credit should read ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP/Getty Images)

(ATR) Budapest 2024 bid leader Balazs Furjes tells Around the Rings the bid allows the IOC to realize the modern Olympic Agenda 2020 goals of sustainability while acknowledging the history of the Olympic Movement.

"It seems that [with Agenda 2020 reforms] cities like Budapest or the size of Budapest can have access to hosting the Games, by which we believe the IOC is getting back to their roots," says Furjes.

"Once, Stockholm, Antwerp and Helsinki could host fantastic Games, all cities a little smaller than Budapest," Furjes tells ATR.

Furjes spoke to Around the Rings in Washington last week on the sidelines of the Association of National Olympic Committees. ATR met with bid leaders from the five cities in the race for the 2024 Olympics during the ANOC meeting and will report on each of them this week

Furjes says the reforms brought on by Agenda 2020 made the city of Budapest, with a population of 1.73 million, realize bidding for the Games was now possible.

"We deem [Olympic Agenda 2020] as a historic reform - a reform falling in line with three of the previous historic reforms by the IOC - all about widening access and participation in the Olympic Movement," Furjes tells ATR.

"The first one being professionals allowed to compete with amateurs, then women were allowed to compete alongside men and then handicapped people were taken on board."

The Agenda 2020 reforms are one of three fundamental reasons the Hungarian Olympic Committee along with the city of Budapest decided to move ahead with a bid for the 2024 Olympics.

The second goes back to theme of the Olympics getting back to their roots says Furjes.

"We were represented by Ferenc Kemeny in the founding fathers, we are just about to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the establishment of the HOC – 200 Olympic Committees were established after it and only five before – and ever since the Games were in place we’ve always participated when it was the free will of the nation."

The HOC will be hosting a 120th anniversary celebration at its headquarters in Budapest from Dec. 14-15 and will use the opportunity to showcase the city’s Olympic history.

Furjes notes that Hungary is now the only country in the top ten of the all-time medal count that has not hosted the Games. Hungary ranks eighth in overall medals at the Summer Games.

"We’ve always been and we want to remain a truly Olympic nation," says Furjes.

He says the final reason the city decided to enter the race is that the natural development of the city falls directly in line with the needs of a host city of the Olympics.

"The natural development path we are going to take moving forward to 2024 with the development of the economy, culture, tourism and business in the city make the circumstances right, right now," he tells ATR.

He says that over the past 25 years the city has experienced a Renaissance since gaining independence and joining the European Union. They have used benefits from the EU to fund infrastructure projects and state-supported housing programs for professionals in the public sector.

Furjes has been heavily involved in this development of the city. He has worked on flagship development projects as an employee of the state for the last five years.

Furjes said it was his experience with these projects that lead to him the bid director job.

"The Mayor and the HOC president and IOC members thought that since my job is to develop Budapest it could be an interesting flagship program for me to run and proposed to me that I should take the lead role on the bid," he tells ATR.

Furjes along with IOC member of Hungary Pal Schmitt and members of the HOC are working together to formulate the 24-person bid committee as well as the bid company.

The committee’s first task is submitting a Games’ vision to the IOC by mid-February, a project Furjes says is currently their main focus.

"The most important thing is to put together a credible and feasible and safe Games plan which we are working on very heavily these days. This is the first deliverable to the IOC by mid February, so that is most important is to develop our vision."

Budapest will host a series of world championships and international events over the next few years including the FINA world championships in 2017, the canoe world championships in 2019 and four games of the UEFA 2020 tournament. Budapest hosted IOC Sessions in 1911 and 1995.

In terms of preparations for hosting thousands of people, Furjes says they will need to construct many more hotels and accommodation sites, but that those projects are also in line with the government’s development plan for the city.

As for why the IOC should choose Budapest over four other cities in Rome, Paris, Hamburg and Los Angeles, Furjes says it would show the world that "everybody has a chance and that if you try hard, even the things that seem impossible become achievable."

"That’s a universal message to every human being that usually you can do more than you thought and you can perform beyond expectations."

Written by KevinNutley

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