The International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s Coordination Commission for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 met by video-conference with the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee and its partners, including representatives from the City of Paris, the Métropole du Grand Paris, Département de la Seine-Saint-Denis, Région Ile de France and the French Olympic and Paralympic Committees.
The meeting was held virtually due to the current COVID-19 situation, with members of the Commission expressing their sympathies for the considerable challenges faced by the French population over the past few months.
Since the candidature, the Paris 2024 Games preparations have been innovative and responsible. The presentations made by the Paris team to the Commission reaffirmed their commitment to this strategy as the first Organizing Committee to fully implement the measures outlined in Olympic Agenda 2020 and its New Norm. They also acknowledged a shift in approach in recent months, given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This new approach is inspired by the recent letter from the IOC President, which was then echoed in the message from Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet to all Paris 2024 stakeholders, that called for creative and sustainable optimizations in the context of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Coordination Commission fully supported this vision and committed to working closely with the organizers to achieve this ambition.
The enhanced Games delivery strategy will involve building on the work already completed, adapting plans and considering many of the developments being used to optimize the postponed Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Speaking after the update, IOC Coordination Commission Chair Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant said: “The COVID-19 situation has impacted everyone around the world, and our sincere thoughts are with all those affected, particularly in France, which has been hit hard. This makes Paris 2024’s continued progress over the past few months incredibly inspiring.
Paris continues to illustrate its determination to deliver an innovative and responsible new model for the organization of the Games. The postponement of Tokyo 2020 to 2021 and the call from our President to look to ‘further strengthen the sustainability and feasibility reforms of Olympic Agenda 2020 with a new phase of the New Norm’ provide the impetus for all stakeholders to take that ambition even further. We look forward to exploring more opportunities and breaking new ground in preparing Games for the future.”
Paris 2024 President Estanguet said: “The Coordination Commission meeting is always a privileged time with Commission members. This moment of exchange allows us to present our latest advances, to challenge and enrich our project in contact with experienced Commission members. Despite the current context, it was important for us to maintain this time of exchange in order to present the latest advances in our project.
During the meetings, Paris 2024 reiterated its focus on delivering its Olympic and Paralympic Games according to the agreed schedule of July 26th to August 11th 2024 and August 28th to September 8th 2024 respectively. It also outlined the progress made since the last Coordination Commission meeting in June 2019 and provided an insight into its plans for the upcoming months.
In addition, the Commission was updated on the status of Games-related construction projects. The Commission congratulated Paris and its partners on the recent awarding of contracts for two Olympic venues in recent weeks, and the start of demolition works on the site of the Olympic and Paralympic Village.
Paris 2024 also covered the status of the Paralympic Games, the progress of a number of other venues, the unveiling of Paris’ new emblem, the launch of the Terre de Jeux 2024 initiative and the Club 2024 project, as well as giving updates on its legacy and sustainability plans.
|
