(ATR) IOC president Thomas Bach tells the U.S. Olympic Committee that it’s taking the right steps with its bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Boston.
"You are starting to build this candidature. You are on the right track. What you have to do now is build unity," Bach said in remarks at a reception February 3 at USOC headquarters in Colorado Springs.
"Unity cannot be an effort only made by the city. It cannot be an effort made only by the USOC. It has to be a joint effort together with the IOC members here in the United States, who are your most valuable ambassadors when it comes to present the bid to their colleagues. And on the political side, to show the determination of the country, determination to organize these Olympic Games in 2024," Bach said.
This was Bach’s first visit to the USOC as IOC president. Before the reception, he toured the U.S. Olympic Training Center where he saw athletes training in fencing, the sport in which he won a gold medal in 1976.
About 75 people attended the reception, most of them leaders of national governing bodies for Olympic sports headquartered in Colorado Springs as well as Colorado governor John Hickenlooper and former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick. NBC Olympics president Gary Zenkel was another guest.
Three of the four IOC members from the U.S. were also in the room: USOC chair Larry Probst, senior U.S. member Anita DeFrantz and Angela Ruggiero, elected as a member of the IOC Athletes Commission.
John Fish, president of Boston 2024, dined with Bach Tuesday evening in Colorado Springs, his first chance to meet with the IOC president since Boston was declared the U.S. nominee in early January.
"Life is all about relationships, both with people from the USOC and the IOC. It’s a wonderful opportunity and this is how we begin this process. We’re excited about it," Fish tells Around the Rings.
Competition for the Boston 2024 bid is expected primarily from Europe with bids from Rome, Paris and Germany. The IOC will decide the 2024 race in 2017.
Bach has been in the United States since January 30, stopping first in New York City where he met with former U.S. President Bill Clinton. The IOC is looking to partner with Clinton’s Global Initiative program to develop projects to encourage physical fitness among young people.
Bach attended the Super Bowl in Arizona and then headed to Vail, Colorado for the open of the FIS Ski World Championships.
Wednesday in New York, Bach meets with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Henry Kissinger.
The former U.S. secretary of state is the last remaining honorary member of the IOC, a distinction awarded 15 years ago when he helped draft reforms in the wake of the vote buying scandal uncovered in connection with the Salt Lake City bid for the 2002 Winter Games.
Written and reported by Ed Hulain Colorado Springs
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