Paris Proves You Can Do It

One of the reasons the IOC wanted the 2024 Olympics to be in Paris was because the bid checked all the boxes for "Olympic Agenda 2020+5."  The IOC was getting hammered over the cost of simply bidding to host the Olympics, not to mention the astronomical price tag of the Sochi Games.  Countries were getting scared off and bids were failing referendums.  Simply put, no one wanted to host the Olympics. 

After the Paris Games, that's no longer the case.  I'm not saying that cities are suddenly lining up knocking on the door of IOC headquarters begging for the opportunity.  But the IOC may once again have choices, which hasn't been the case in recent Olympic cycles.  Paris and LA won by default.  That was pretty much the case with Brisbane, as well.  And the 2030 Winter Olympics weren't awarded until two months ago (just five and a half years before the Games!) because they had trouble finding a host.  Fortunately, the French Alps stepped up with a late bid.

For the next available Summer Olympics in 2036, though, there's some definite interest.  Some experts believe that the 2036 Games are all but assured to go to Doha, with the announcement only being delayed because they don't want to do it until after the next IOC President is chosen next summer.  It does seem like a Doha Games, which would be the first Olympics in both the Middle East and the Arab world, is inevitable.  But I'm not 100 percent sure 2036 is as assured as some others seem to think.

The IOC (and, thus, the Olympic Movement) is primarily European-based.  Even with more members and increased influence from the other regions, Europe has always been the most important continent for the Olympic Movement.  As such, they're very deliberate about maintaining a presence in Europe, the Olympics' traditional "home."

Which brings me back to Doha.  The next two Olympics are in North America and Australia, which means we'll go at least 12 years between European Games.  We also just had a 12-year gap between London and Paris.  If Doha hosts in 2036, meanwhile, it'll be 16 years between Paris and 2040, the longest gap in history.  That would also mean that there was a grand total of just one Summer Olympics in Europe during the 28-year period from 2012-40!

So, I'm inclined to believe that it's far more likely the 2036 Olympics will take place in Europe, with Doha pushed back to 2040 (then hopefully an African city in 2044).  Especially since the success of the Paris Games, more specifically, the success of the new Olympic model has made hosting attractive to potential European host cities again.  It's more than that, though.  Paris has made places want to host the Olympics again.

European cities that have already expressed interest are Budapest, which has hosted numerous World Championships in multiple sports in recent years and has long been seen as an Olympic host in waiting; Istanbul, which badly wants to host the Olympics and has bid multiple times before; and Copenhagen, which is probably a long shot, but would be a great example of how a smaller countries could still stage a successful Olympics on a budget.  Poland and Germany have also floated the idea of bidding.  (Although, and this is by no means the German Olympic Committee's fault, if I was the IOC, I'd want to stay far away from Germany on the 100th anniversary of the 1936 Games, then the 100th anniversary of World War II.)

Poland and Germany seem to prefer 2040, which would almost certainly go to Europe if Doha does indeed host in 2036.  So does Madrid and potentially Ukraine.  As well as all the 2036 candidates should those Games go to Doha.  So, like I said, the IOC will have options.  And they have Paris to thank for that.

When LA hosted in 1984, it was a complete paradigm shift for the Olympic Movement.  Through the use of existing venues and corporate sponsorships, those Games actually made money.  As the spending increased, Olympic hosts stopped turning a profit, even with private donors and corporate sponsorships.  And you had governments not wanting to use public funds for such an expenditure, especially after the people themselves were either apathetic or flat out opposed to spending any money on hosting the Olympics when they saw no benefit in it for them.

Paris changed that perception.  They proved that it can be done without building a vast Olympic Park with a bunch of costly new venues that will see little to no use after the Games.  Paris brilliantly used existing and temporary venues in the heart of the city, which kept costs down tremendously.  LA will do the exact same thing four years from now.  And countries saw the genuine enthusiasm for the Paris Games.  It made them want to get in on the fun.  Paris showed them how they can.

I'm not saying all of these European cities will follow the Paris model exactly.  Nor should they.  After all, there's only one Paris.  And nobody will argue that part of what made this summer's Olympics so spectacular was making the city a part of it.  When you have Paris as a backdrop, use it.  These other cities won't have that luxury, which isn't a knock on them.  It's simply an acknowledgement that Paris is one-of-a-kind.

Each of these other European cities are one-of-a-kind in their own unique way, as well.  And they'd be smart to lean into that the way Paris did so brilliantly.  Take advantage of what you've got.  That was perhaps the biggest lesson any potential host city could take away.  No one will ever forget where the 2024 Olympics took place.  Weave the city into the fabric of the Olympics while also doing things your way.  As Paris showed, you can do that without breaking the bank.

And, while I've been focusing on Europe here, it's worth noting that the model first employed in Paris has made other countries in other regions consider bidding.  Countries like India and Egypt and South Africa.  Santiago, meanwhile, already has the infrastructure in place after hosting the 2023 Pan Am Games.  The "use what you've got, build only what you need" approach has suddenly made hosting the Olympics seem much more cost feasible.

This year's Olympics was the first to fully utilize the Olympic Agenda 2020+5 reforms.  So, it's too early to say if the reforms as a whole work of if it was simply the result of excellent organization by the host committee.  It was probably a combination of both.  After all, Paris had been wanting to host the Olympics for a long time before finally getting the opportunity.  The fact that they did so, and did it so brilliantly, though, was certainly noticed.  And it will likely result in other cities and countries wanting to host the Olympics again.  Which is a far cry from even a few years ago.  And could end up being not just Paris' legacy, but its greatest contribution to the Olympic Movement.