(ATR)Top international sports figures rubbed elbows in different parts of Canada this week.
In the United States, Boston’s bid leaders are marking slightly increased public support. One politician however, says Boston 2024 still lacks much-needed transparency.
In this Sunday edition of ATRadio, Around the Rings recaps IOC president Thomas Bach's time in Toronto and Montreal, as competition in the 2015 Pan Am Games and the bidding contest for the 2024 Olympics heats up.
The Pan American Games officially opened in Toronto on Friday, following a week of celebrations in both the Ontario capital and Montreal.
Bach made the rounds in Toronto ahead of the 2015 Pan Ams, and also made a stop in Montreal for a celebration hosted by the Canadian Olympic Committee.
The visit marked Bach’s first trip back to Montreal since the 1976 Olympics.
Almost 39 years ago, Bach won a gold medal in fencing at the Montreal Games. On Thursday, he received a key to the city of Montreal during a celebration of Canada Olympic Excellence Day.
Over 2,000 guests were there for the festivities, which took place all over the city.
ATR editor Ed Hula says Bach was "careful and encouraging" toward the Toronto's hopes of hosting a Summer Olympics, possibly as soon as 2024.
In other 2024 bidding news, the United Independent Party, a group pushing for a ballot question barring any state spending on a potential 2024 Olympics in Boston, has dismissed a state budget amendment as "smoke and mirrors."
The amendment included by lawmakers in a compromise $38.1 billion spending plan would require public hearings and legislative approval before taxpayers’ money could be spent on the Olympics.
Evan Falchuk, leader of the United Independent Party, said in a statement to the AP this week that allowing legislators to approve spending creates an "Olympic size loophole."
Falchuk, who ran for Governor of MA last year, spoke with ATR on Friday. He discussed the premise behind the UIP’s proposed 2016 ballot question and recalled the surprise many Bostonians felt last January when the U.S. Olympic Committee chose Boston to bid for the 2024 Games.
While Falchuk has yet to sit down with Boston bid leaders including Steve Pagliuca, ATR’s Ed Hula caught up with the Boston 2024 chairman in Toronto in the days leading up to the opening of the 2015 Pan Ams.
In speaking with Hula, Pagliuca said that Boston bid leaders are in Toronto for the start of the Pan Ams and hope to learn a lot from organizers.
He also noted that he and his team have heard only positive things about Boston’s bid from IOC members and other sports figures in Toronto for the Pan Am Games.
Written and produced byNicole Bennett
Photos: Getty Images
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