The French sports establishment is set to press on with efforts to piece together a blueprint for a winning Paris Olympic bid, in spite of comments this week by Manuel Valls, the French Prime Minister, that have been widely interpreted as sounding a death-knell for the French capital’s prospects of entering the 2024 race.
Among a series of announcements relating to the so-called “Grand Paris” project, Valls signalled Government backing for a French bid to host Expo 2025.
“I see in the candidacy for the 2025 Universal Exhibition a magnificent opportunity for the image of ‘Grand Paris’ and of France in the world,” he said.
His words were immediately seized on by sports commentators as tantamount to a declaration that France would not be entering the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic race, on the grounds that laying preparations for two massive projects in such quick succession was not really feasible.
While such a reading may yet turn out to be justified, however, insidethegames understands that the wide-ranging Olympic and Paralympic feasibility study, launched earlier this year, is set to continue undaunted.
Under this process, a report is likely to be produced early next year, with a formal decision on a Paris 2024 bid taken before the country sets off for les grandes vacances. more
