Turkish Minister Talks Istanbul 2020; U.S. Prioritizes Bid; Paris Possible for 2024

Turkish Minister Says Istanbul Deserves to Host Olympics

The minister of Youth and Sport for Turkey says that Istanbul deserves the right to host the Olympic Games in 2020.

Suat Kilic spoke to a group of reporters in London during his visit to the Olympic city.

Kilic praised London’s organization and said he had attended almost every competition where he has been "watching, learning and listening".

The minister dismissed the notion that it would be too soon for the Olympics to come back to Europe after the current Games and the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014.

"We noticed that [Spain] and Tokyo already had the Games before and London has held it for three times now," he said. "We believe we deserve at least once to organize the Games. We believe it’s not fair to call Turkey sometimes a European country, sometimes an Asian country. Turkey is placed at the same time in Europe and in Asia."

"Madrid is closest to London and Tokyo is close to Beijing [2008 hosts] – and Sochi is holding the winter Olympics. Turkey is the middle of everything so we believe it suits us and we deserve it."

He was quick to clarify however that his comments were not a criticism of the other candidate cities. "Istanbul is a valuable city so we don’t need to mention other disadvantages to explain our city" he added.

Madrid and Tokyo, the other candidate cities, both have a presence in London at their respective national houses, but not Turkey. Kilic says that this was an advantage for the team rather than a missed PR opportunity.

"We talked a lot about whether we should open a national house – then we decided not to open one because it is better to organize one-to-one meetings and discussions" he said. "The IOC encourages us and everyone not to waste money if you don’t really believe it, so that’s why we focused on that."

"We carefully followed the way for every penny to be spent on Turkish athletes. Today I am looking at the situation and whether we made a mistake or not – definitely I still agree we did the right thing."

A significant element of Istanbul’s bid is the prospect of holding the Games over two continents. With that in mind, the bid proposes hosting the ceremony in the redeveloped Bhosphorus port which connects Europe and Asia.

The IOC has raised some questions about the practicality of holding the opening ceremony in the port. However Kilic was steadfast that they were not considering changing any aspect of their proposal.

"We are not considering moving the opening ceremony after the reports. But at the time of the Games there will be three bridges and two tunnels which connect Europe and Asia so it is the only place to hold the ceremony in two continents," he said.

USOC Prioritizes Bid

Returning the Olympic Games to the United States is "a strategic priority for the USOC over the long term," CEO Scott Blackmun tells Around the Rings.

With USOC brass in London to support Team USA at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, "realistically over the next few weeks there won't be any activity on the bid front," Blackmun says.

However, the board of directors will appoint a board working group after the Games, which will present its findings to its colleagues in December.

With the board already ruling out a bid for the 2022 Winter Games, the working group will look at the question of bidding for the 2024 Summer Games or the 2026 Winter Games and determine a process for choosing a U.S. candidate city.

"I would be very surprised if the United States does not submit a bid for either ‘24 or for ‘26 because we very much would like to see the Games hosted in the U.S. again," Blackmun says.

The U.S. has not hosted a Winter Games since 2002 in Salt Lake City, a Summer Games since 1996 in Atlanta.

The revenue sharing agreement with the IOC in May removed a roadblock that had stopped previous U.S. bids from New York and Chicago in their tracks.

There has been strong interest from U.S. cities in bidding for the Winter Games, less so from possible hosts of the Summer Games because the prospect of a 2024 campaign is still new.

"I think as time goes on we're going to have a much more developed concept and strategy than today," Blackmun says. "Today what we have is a strong desire to submit a bid, but right now we want to submit a bid that is a great bid."

He said that while a bid doesn’t guarantee a U.S. win amid a lot of great bids from around the world, "We want to make sure any bid we submit is the best possible bid."

President of France Raises Possibility of Paris

The president of France says that he would back a bid to host the Olympic Games in the country in 2024.

Francois Hollande was speaking to reporters at the Olympic Village this week in London, where he met athletes from his own country. He was asked if France was thinking of bidding to host a Games in the future after high-profile bid failures in the past decade.

"We can think about Olympic Games. We would be able to host in France, probably in the 2024 horizon" he said. "But before making a formal bid, we need to prepare for it well. We can't afford another failure, after three consecutive setbacks. Paris lost twice, and then it was Annecy. It was disappointing, and for the latest Annecy bid, it was a humiliation".

That Annecy bid was for the 2018 Winter Olympics that eventually went to PyeongChang, South Korea. The bid was reported to be problematic almost from the start. Before that, Paris twice had failed bids for the 2008 and 2012 Summer Games.

Hollande was cautious in not declaring a definite interest, but said he will listen to the French NOC’s recommendations on the matter. "If the sporting community decides to go, if all the conditions of success are present, I will back this bid" he said.

If declared, the bid would have the sentimental aspect of the Games falling on the 100th anniversary of the 1924 Paris Olympics. The city would also be bidding to become only the second city after London to host the Games on three occasions.

A potential bid could be affected by which city is chosen to host the Games in 2020. If either Madrid or Istanbul is chosen over Tokyo, there would most likely be a strong wish to move the Games away from Europe in 2024.

Reported in London by Ed Hula and Christian Radnedge

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