French Sport Ambassador: "Paris is a City of Sports"

(ATR) French Ambassador of Sport Philippe Vinogradoff tells Around the Rings that four major international world championships hosted by France over the next eight months will bode well for the Paris 2024 bid.

Between now and when the 2024 Summer Olympic host city is chosen at the IOC session in Lima, Peru next September, France will stage world championships in team handball, surfing, ice hockey and wrestling.

Vinogradoff spoke to ATR at the Peace and Sport International Forum in Monaco last week, emphasizing France’s strong capability to deliver major international sporting events.

"France has a long tradition of hosting international sporting events, but those that are coming before September – their success is also an argument in favor of the candidacy," Vinogradoff said referring to the Paris 2024 bid. "It proves that France knows how to organize and make success of big international events."

In lieu of the longstanding tradition of sport in France, notably the Tour de France which dates back to 1903, Vinogradoff refuted the notion that Paris is not a quintessential sporting city.

"We recently had the European Football Championships and in Paris we had a fan zone of 90,000 people – it was full," Vinogradoff boasted. "Yes, Paris is a city of sports.

"Maybe we need to let people outside of Paris know that we are a sports city, but it truly is," the French Sports Ambassador added.

France’s busy 2017 of world championships begins in January with the world team handball championships taking place across eight cities with the final being played at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris. Twenty-four nations will vie for the title.

Paris will co-host the IIHF ice hockey world championships for the first time alongside Cologne, Germany in May. Eight teams will skate in the preliminary round at the AccorHotels Arena, with the semifinals and finals contested in Germany.

The ISA World Surfing Games come to Biarritz, on France’s southwest coast in May. It will be the first time since 2008 that the event is held in Europe and first time in France since Biarritz last hosted the event in 1980.

Finally, the wrestling world championships will be held in Paris for the first time, August 21-27.

Venues for the four championships figure prominently in the Paris 2024 bid.

"In the candidacy, many of the venues already exist," Vinogradoff said. "This is one of the important points of the candidacy. If we have the venues, we will use them."

It seems that the only large-scale arena that would need to be constructed should Paris win the 2024 Games would be an Aquatics Center for swimming and diving.

The French Ambassador for Sport position was created just three years ago by the French government. Vinogradoff is only the second to occupy the role. According to Vinogradoff, the position was developed to help France promote and organize major events with the assistance of the country’s embassy and consulate network.

Vinogradoff’s collaboration with the Paris 2024 bid will take on greater dimensions beginning on Feb. 3, as the candidate cities will then be permitted by International Olympic Committee guidelines to begin international promotion of the bids.

"Regarding the international campaign, right now we are in the stage of preparation," Vinogradoff said. "All of the embassies are thinking what can we do, what can we organize.

"They will send me the information and we will share this with Paris 2024 to see what can be done – a lot will be done."

Written by Brian Pinelliin Monaco.

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