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On 11 July, the IOC Session unanimously agreed in principle to award both the Olympic Games 2024 and 2028 simultaneously in Lima, paving the way for a “win-win-win” situation for the Olympic Movement, Los Angeles and Paris. This historic decision initiated a period of constructive discussion between the IOC and the two Candidate Cities, resulting in Los Angeles declaring its candidature for the Olympic Games 2028 followed by a Tripartite Agreement and the release of the Host City Contract 2028 on 31 July.The agreement was ratifi ed by the full IOC membership at the IOC Session in Lima on 13 September, confi rming that Paris will host the Olympic Games 2024, and that Los Angeles will host the Olympic Games 2028. This was the culmination of a two-year Candidature Process that was shaped by the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms.It was the very fact that the two candidatures embraced so fully the principles laid out in Olympic Agenda 2020 that created what IOC President ‘A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY’ON 13 SEPTEMBER AT THE IOC SESSION IN LIMA, IT WAS CONFIRMED THAT PARIS AND LOS ANGELES WILL HOST THE OLYMPIC GAMES 2024 AND 2028 RESPECTIVELY, FOLLOWING THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE’S (IOC) HISTORIC DECISION TO AWARD BOTH GAMES SIMULTANEOUSLY. HERE, WE TRACE THE EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES THAT LED TO THE DECISION, AND LOOK AT THE POSITIVE LEGACIES OF BOTH CITIES’ CANDIDATURES.Thomas Bach termed a “golden opportunity” for the Olympic Movement. “Both cities have really embraced Olympic Agenda 2020 in different ways, but particularly in the way they are planning to use a record number of existing and temporary facilities,” said President Bach at a press conference on 9 June, after the IOC Executive Board had put forward the proposal to award both Games at the same time.“This is something we have not seen in this dimension before, and will lead to signifi cant cost reductions in the organisation of the Olympic Games and will make the Games more sustainable and more feasible.”On 11 July at the Candidate City Briefi ng 2024, when the two delegations – led by Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti and President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron – presented their respective Games concepts, it was this mutually strong focus on sustainability and legacy that made losing one of them unthinkable for the Olympic Movement. A Host City Contract 2028 was drawn up specifying that the IOC contribution towards the successful organisation of the Olympic Games 2028 would be USD 1.8 billion. In addition, the IOC will advance funds in view of the longer planning period, in order to increase participation in and access to youth sports programmes in Los Angeles in the years leading up to the Games.The result is the safeguarding of the future of the Games through the allocation of hosting rights to two historic Olympic cities, giving athletes, National Olympic Committees, International Federations and the entire Olympic Movement an exciting framework within which to map out the next 11 years, and providing legacies that will benefi t the local populations long into the future. In fact, collaboration between the two cities has already begun through the drawing up of a framework for cooperation between Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028, outlining opportunities that the two cities and the IOC are planning to explore to create mutual benefi ts, effi ciency, transparency and reduction in costs and complexity.Above leftIOC President Thomas Bach with the mayors of Paris and Los Angeles, Anne Hidalgo and Eric Garcetti, in LimaLeftThe historic double allocation is a “win-win-win” situation for Paris, Los Angeles and the IOCOLYMPIC REVIEW 31HOST CITIES