IOC is expected to OK naming two winners in host race — which Olympics might go to L.A.?

Staff Writer

July 10, 2017 9:22 PM PT

By the time Los Angeles awakens on Tuesday morning, the decision should be final.

The International Olympic Committee will probably have voted on a proposal to name two winners in the current host-city race between L.A. and Paris, an arrangement that could eventually give 2024 to one and 2028 to the other.

And if IOC members have ratified a dual allocation — as expected — Southern California will almost certainly be guaranteed of hosting the Summer Games for a third time.

Even if it means waiting 11 more years.

“Our deeper commitment is to this movement,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said of the Olympics at a Monday news conference in Lausanne, Switzerland. “I want what is best for this movement.”

This week’s session at IOC headquarters in Lausanne might have represented a crucial stage in another bid competition, with both cities sending delegations to give technical presentations.

The likelihood of two winners in a two-city competition makes it feel a bit anticlimactic. Paris is widely expected to go first, with L.A. accepting 2028.

Still, French President Emmanuel Macron accompanied the Paris 2024 team.

Heads of state usually do not show up until the final selection, which in this case is scheduled for mid-September. With losses in two recent bid cycles, the French apparently wanted to cover every base.

“We come to you with pride, determination and humility,” Macron said at a news conference.

President Trump did not make the trip with the LA 2024 bid committee. Instead, Garcetti brought star power in the form of famed track athletes Michael Johnson and Allyson Felix.

The mayor spoke of the legacy for a city that previously hosted the Games in 1932 and 1984.

“At this crazy moment in the world when so much is unsure,” he said, “let’s bring what we know to be true and good, and that is the Olympic movement.”

IOC President Thomas Bach met with both delegation leaders at the Olympic Museum, reiterating his view of the dual-allocation proposal as a “win-win-win for Los Angeles, Paris and the IOC.”

Potential hosts have shied away in recent years, concerned about the billions of dollars required to put on the Games, so the IOC could benefit from securing two strong candidates through the next decade.

It would be startling for IOC members to skip the opportunity — or reject the recommendation of their president and executive board — but a “yes” vote would not entirely settle the matter.

Bach wants to have a deal in place before this fall’s selection. In an interview with The Times last week, he talked about reaching a tripartite agreement in which one city agrees to go second.

That might not be easy. On Monday, he said: “We are in sports, and in sports there is always competition.”

Paris has pushed back against waiting the additional four years. Even L.A., with its willingness to consider 2028, will likely seek concessions.

Negotiations have begun in only a preliminary fashion and are expected to grow more serious if Tuesday’s vote — scheduled for afternoon Central European Summer Time — delivers the anticipated result.

There is a chance that, over the next few weeks, talks could break down and the IOC could wind up with two candidates wanting only 2024. That chance appears slim.

Both cities were scheduled to spend the time before Tuesday’s vote giving 45-minute presentations and taking 30 minutes of questions on their proposals to stage more than 300 events over two-plus weeks.

On Wednesday morning — the day after the decision — the bid committees were set to invite members to special rooms featuring display models and videos promoting their plans.

“This is LA 2024’s first opportunity to present our vision for the Games to all of the IOC members together,” bid chairman Casey Wasserman said in a statement. “I hope all the members will share our excitement.”

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