Golden 25 - #23 - Peruvian Capital Readies for IOC, Pan Am Games

(ATR) Lima, Peru, is an important destination for the Olympic Movement in 2017.

The city of nine million will host the 130th IOC Session in September that will decide the host of the 2024 Olympics. It’s the major meeting of the year for the IOC and with a Summer Olympic city to pick, the Session could draw the heads of state from the U.S. , France and Hungary.

Lima should be ready to welcome the high profile visitors. In November, Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping were among the heads of state at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. In 2013, IOC Sport for All conference drew delegates from around the world, including the IOC President.

Peruvian Olympic Committee President Jose Quinones is the emissary in the arrangements for the IOC Session, juggling the politics and protocol that come with this sort of meeting. Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski will be another key player to make sure all is ready for the IOC and the heads of state which may include Donald Trump.

Lima is also in the spotlight as the host for the 2019 Pan American Games and is in the midst of construction and other preparations for the event. As was the case for Rio de Janeiro in 2007, the 2019 Pan Ams could point Lima toward a future Olympic bid. Carlos Neuhaus took over as CEO this year, charged with moving the project forward.

However, the vagaries of Peruvian politics are a reality of the Lima 2019 experience. Quinones and the Peru Olympic Committee seem to face regular legislative scrutiny. This week the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, headed by engineer Martin Vizcarra took over responsibility for the Pan Ams from the Ministry of Education. The change is said to be better suited to tackling construction projects such as the Pan American Village.

Keith Joseph of St. Vincent and Ivar Sisniega of Mexico are watching Lima most closely for the Pan American Sports Organization. Their last reports to PASO in November indicated Lima has much to do.

It’s up to Quinones, Kuczynski, Vizcarra, Neuhaus and their colleagues to keep Lima on course toward the Pan Ams.

Written by Ed Hula.