More Changes to Olympic Bid Process

(ATR) IOC president Thomas Bach says there are "too many losers" in the process to select host cities for the Olympic Games.

"We can be happy about a strong field in quantity in one day, but you start to regret it the next day," Bach told reporters at the final IOC executive board of 2016. He says the process may run more smoothly with fewer cities competing to host the Games.

"The procedure starts to produce losers and that is not the purpose of Olympic candidature procedure: the real purpose is to produce the best possible host for the Olympic Games."

There have already been three losers in the bid to host the 2024 Games, each met with negative media criticism of the Olympic process. First, the United States’ original bid from Boston, Massachusetts failed to gain public support, causing the USOC to fall back on Los Angeles as its new candidate. Hamburg, Germany and Rome, Italy began the official race in September 2015 before falling victim to a public referendum and local political opposition which respectively killed their bids.

Bach says the IOC also needs to consider changes to its candidate selection process that might include even earlier consultations with potential hosts. This could mean a more directed approach, similar perhaps to the new method the IOC will use to choose hosts for the Youth Olympic Games.

Under the new process, yet to be implemented, the IOC hopes to selectively invite cities to bid which fit the criteria to host the YOG.

Bach spoke in Lausanne during a press conference at the conclusion of three days of meetings of IOC executives on Thursday. The EB discussed everything from the Youth Olympic Games and future Olympic host cities to the fight against doping.

With the release Friday of the latest WADA report on doping allegations in Russia from Richard McLaren, Bach admitted the challenges the IOC faced this past year and the ones that are yet to come.

"I hope the experiences I had to make this year will remain unique experiences, that I do not have to make them again," he confessed.

"As soon as we have the [McLaren] report, it will be handed to the two commissions who have already made preparatory work. As for the results, I have to see the results and I cannot speculate, there is a wide range of possibilities and it’s in the hands of the two commissions. But the commissions have to go beyond the report of McLaren with his cooperation."

The report from Canadian law professor Richard McLaren is expected to name specific athletes who may have benefited from a corrupted anti-doping system in Russia. Athletes could be named who competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, where the doping lab is under investigation for subterfuge aimed at hiding positive drug tests.

Although Bach would not speculate on a potential blanket ban for Russia at PyeongChang 2018 if the McLaren results further prove allegations of a state-sponsored doping program, he did admit he favors harsh bans for those who may have benefited from such a program.

"Clearly, for me, if an athlete or an official would be part of such a system, I would not like to see this person again at any Olympic Games in any official capacity," Bach told renowned Olympic journalist for the AP Steve Wilson. "This for me would present such aggravating circumstances that the logical consequence would be a life ban and an exclusion from the Olympics for life."

Asked whether weightlifting, with two dozen positives disclosed in the retesting from Beijing and London, might be subject to losing its place on the Olympic program, Bach said he wasn’t sure. He said the determination needs to be made whether the weightlifting positives are concentrated in specific countries or are affecting the sport globally.

Bach concluded the press conference with a tribute to AP editor and reporter Steve Wilson, covering his final IOC meeting. Wilson, who covered his first Olympics in 1984 in Los Angeles, is headed to the International Tennis Federation in January. He’ll head communications and international relations for the federation, based in London.

"This is really a remarkable career and I would like to thank you for this," Bach told Wilson. "I cannot thank you enough for your cooperation because you always did your job while always remaining critical in a fair and constructive way so one could always learn something from your constructive criticism".

Bach presented Wilson with a pen as a farewell gift, promising that it meets IOC Compliance Department regulations.

Written by Ed Hula and Kevin Nutley.

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