The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday awarded the 2024 summer Olympic Games to Paris and the 2028 edition to Los Angeles following a vote in the Peruvian capital.
Paris, which has hosted two previous Olympics, will stage the event 100 years after its last Games in 1924 while Los Angeles will also organise its third Games after 1932 and 1984.
There were no other candidates for either the 2024 or 2028 Games and the votes were a formality. IOC President Thomas Bach said the votes for both cities were “unanimous”.
The IOC decided in July to award both Games at the same time, following the withdrawal of four of the six cities bidding for the 2024 Olympics, amid concerns about the size, cost and complexity of organising the world’s biggest multi-sports event.
Los Angeles then dropped its bid for the 2024 Olympics, for which it had been campaigning for over two years, in return for receiving the 2028 edition.
Paris, with a total Games budget of 6.8 billion euros (6.12 billion pounds), had failed with previous attempts to land the 1992, 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
The presence of French President Emmanuel Macron, who also spoke on Wednesday in a video message, at the IOC’s extraordinary session in July in Lausanne was seen as crucial in sealing the deal for the French capital for 2024.
The Los Angeles 2028 Games, with a budget of $5.3 billion, will essentially follow the plan they had in place for 2024, including housing athletes at the UCLA campus.
It is the first time the IOC has awarded a Games 11 years in advance.
The Olympic body, however, was eager to secure the future of its prime product even if it meant handing out two editions at the same time after Boston, Budapest, Rome and Hamburg all pulled the plug on their bids mid-race, fearing high costs and local opposition.
