(ATR) Paris 2024 chairman Tony Estanguet meets with 60 athletes to determine the roles that athletes throughout France will play in organizing and delivering the Olympic Games.
The meeting at the offices of the elite French sports academy (INSEP) was the first in a series of athlete collaborations planned by Paris 2024. The meetings will serve to format the Athletes’ Commission and its role in the Organizing Committee as well as help athletes discover ways they can drive fan engagement with the Olympics and Paralympics.
The Athletes’ Commission will be created following the establishment of the formal Paris 2024 OCOG which a spokesperson tells Around the Rings should be finalized by the end of January 2018.
"The actual dates are still to be finalized but the aim is to wind up the transitional OCOG in December or early January and the full OCOG to become operational before the end of January," ATR is told.
Estanguet, French Olympic Committee President Denis Masseglia and Paris 2024 Sports Director Jean-Philippe Gatien led the meeting and discussions about athlete involvement in organizing the Games and the framework for the ‘Paris 2024 Athletes’ Plan’.
"The presence of athletes at the heart of the Paris 2024 project is essential," Estanguet said in a statement. "Their experience of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, their knowledge of their individual sports and their insight into the federations allowed us to propose a project that will meet the expectations of the Olympic family."
Included in the Athletes’ Plan is the Athlete Ambassadors program that will drive engagement with the Olympic values in France and internationally, according to Paris 2024.
As Paris 2024 moves toward forming its OCOG, the scrutiny of the Olympic organizers has already increased in the French and international media. Reports questioning the salaries of top OCOG executives and spending at the IOC Session in Lima have surfaced in recent weeks. Paris 2024 tells ATR this is to be expected.
"Scrutiny is normal and is part of transparency," a spokesperson says. "Paris 2024 will continue to work closely with all stakeholders to answer any questions and move forward in a very positive spirit."
After a few weeks of silence following the selection of Paris 2024 as the host city in Lima in September, it seems Paris 2024 is now on its first steps in the seven-year path to the Olympic opening ceremony in the French capital.
Written by Kevin Nutley
Forgeneral comments or questions, click here.
25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about theOlympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribersonly.
Últimas Noticias
Utah’s Olympic venues an integral part of the equation as Salt Lake City seeks a Winter Games encore
Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation chief of sport development Luke Bodensteiner says there is a “real urgency to make this happen in 2030”. He discusses the mission of the non-profit organization, the legacy from the 2002 Winter Games and future ambitions.
IOC president tells Olympic Movement “we will again have safe and secure Olympic Games” in Beijing
Thomas Bach, in an open letter on Friday, also thanked stakeholders for their “unprecedented” efforts to make Tokyo 2020 a success despite the pandemic.
Boxing’s place in the Olympics remains in peril as IOC still unhappy with the state of AIBA’s reform efforts
The IOC says issues concerning governance, finance, and refereeing and judging must be sorted out to its satisfaction. AIBA says it’s confident that will happen and the federation will be reinstated.
IOC president details Olympic community efforts to get Afghans out of danger after Taliban return to power
Thomas Bach says the Afghanistan NOC remains under IOC recognition, noting that the current leadership was democratically elected in 2019. But he says the IOC will be monitoring what happens in the future. The story had been revealed on August 31 in an article by Miguel Hernandez in Around the Rings
North Korea suspended by IOC for failing to participate in Tokyo though its athletes could still take part in Beijing 2022
Playbooks for Beijing 2022 will ”most likely” be released in October, according to IOC President Thomas Bach.
