Toronto will bid for 2024 Olympics; joins 5 others

Toronto is better positioned than any other city considering bidding for the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympic because of the success of the Pan American Games which close here this evening, according to Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) President Marcel Aubut.

Boston is in the mix with Budapest, Hungary; Hamburg, Germany; Paris; and Rome.

Aubut focused on successful Winter Games in Vancouver and Calgary, and downplayed Montreal.

If Toronto bids it would mark the city’s third attempt to host the Olympics in recent years including the 1996 and 2008 Games.

Canada won the men’s volleyball bronze medal with a 3-1 victory over Puerto Rico on Sunday at the Pan American Games.

And by the time the women’s baseball team capped Canada’s run to the podium with a silver medal, the host nation had amassed 217 medals, 78 gold, 69 silver, and 70 bronze.

Canada’s women’s 4×100 relay squad of Toronto’s Crystal Emmanuel, Kim Hyacinthe of Terrebonne, Que., Jellisa Westney of Cambridge, Ont., and Khamica Bingham of Brampton, Ont., raced to bronze in a time of 43.00, and the women’s 4×400 relay team of Brianne Theisen-Eaton of Humboldt, Sask., Taylor Sharpe of Pickering, Ont., Sage Watson of Medicine Hat, Alta., and Toronto’s Sarah Wells capped the night with another bronze.

“This is a huge as an asset for Toronto when you are looking for the next step to bid for 2024”, Aubut said.

“It doesn’t have to cost $10 billion and I don’t think it will because (IOC president) Thomas Bach is squarely against that”.

Canada’s total gold medals collected four years ago in Guadalajara was 30.

Toronto’s unbridled enthusiasm stands in stark contrast to floundering support for the troubled Boston bid, making Canada’s largest city an increasingly attractive alternative.

Toronto could suit some interests in North America, which has not hosted a summer games since Atlanta in 1996.

While Toronto appeared indifferent to the approaching Pan Am Games, once they arrived the city embraced the event with stunning support and filled stadiums and arenas to cheer on home athletes.

Aubut emphasized Toronto’s diversity.

Toronto Mayor John Tory told The Associated Press this week the city must move “very quickly” since the global Olympic Committee requires all bidders – meaning the national Olympic committees – to declare their intentions by September 15.

Tory may have a hard time.

Rio de Janeiro, the host of next year’s Olympics, is spending about $12 billion to organize the games.

The victor will be named in 2017 in Lima, Peru.

“This is the moment”.

“People have been preoccupied with building facilities and staging the Games and we really haven’t put in place a realistic, sustainable plan to enhance sport and physical activity, particularly for the disadvantaged in our society”, he said.

“This is the momentum we needed to talk seriously about this”, he said. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.

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