2024 Bids Get Advice on Olympic, Media Villages

(ATR) Leaders of the four bid cities vying to stage the 2024 Summer Olympics met with the IOC in Madrid for a two-day workshop.

The workshop began on Wednesday, April 6 and was the second technical meeting between IOC officials and the 2024 bid leaders from Budapest, Los Angeles, Paris and Rome. The first technical meeting took place in November as part of the revamped bidding process set forth by the Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms that seek to increase communication between the IOC and the bid cities.

The bids are now in phase two of the three-stage candidature process that is focused on governance, legal issues and venue funding. The first meeting of phase two set out to answer the bid cities’ questions regarding the Olympic Village, International Broadcasting Center and Main Press Center that were raised at the meeting in November.

"The Olympic Village and the IBC/MPC are two specific areas where the Candidate Cities requested further information in order to find optimal, cost-effective technical solutions best suited to meeting the long-term needs of the city while developing their Olympic projects," the IOC said in a statement.

Led by associate director of Olympic candidatures Jacqueline Barrett and Olympic Broadcasting Services chief executive officer Yiannis Exarchos, the aim of the workshop was to "demonstrate to the cities that there is not a one-size-fits-all solution and how early planning can lead to extensive cost savings," said Barrett.

Barrett and Exarchos reviewed plans from previous Olympics, best practices and legacy case studies with the bid leaders and described how these examples could be applied to each city. Exarchos says the legacy of the villages is often overlooked in host cities.

"IBCs from previous Games have historically been facilities that have proven to be integral to the continuing economic and cultural growth of the host city," he says. "From the workshop, it was clear that this same opportunity exists for each of the four Candidate Cities."

Budapest 2024 was represented in Madrid by director of architecture and urban planning Sandor Finta, Beatrix Frankfurt of venues and transport and Szombor Barta of sustainability and legacy. Finta says the timing of the workshop was ideal to allow ample time to develop its strategy for the villages.

"The workshop was a fantastic opportunity for us to discuss our bid projects and learn about these facilities, and understand the priorities of the key stakeholders," Finta said.

Los Angeles 2024 chief executive officer Gene Sykes led the city’s delegation at the meeting. He says Los Angeles is "always eager to learn from the IOC".

"It was extremely useful in giving us a greater understanding of what is required to deliver a technically outstanding Olympic Village and IBC and MPC."

Paris 2024 chief executive officer Etienne Thobois said the meeting was "very useful to boost our learning curve".

"We were provided with invaluable advice that will help us better fulfill the needs of the various clients groups," he said. "Appropriate design and smart planning is very important to deliver the Games in the most efficient and cost-effective way."

General coordinator for Rome 2024 Diana Bianchedi said Rome welcomed the opportunity to go over its plans in more detail with IOC officials.

"We will use the feedback to refine our preliminary designs," she says. "We look forward to further discussions as the process progresses."

The bid cities will use the advice from the workshop to help formulate the second candidature files due to the IOC on Oct. 7. The third and final phase of the bidding process begins in December.

The IOC will select the host city at the IOC Session in September 2017.

Written by Kevin Nutley

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