IOC bosses recommended Friday that hosting rights for the 2024 and 2028 Olympics be awarded together, virtually assuring that rival bidders Paris and Los Angeles will both get the Games. The move will not be final until a vote of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) members next month, but that body is likely to rubber-stamp Friday's executive committee recommendation. IOC president Thomas Bach told reporters the proposal had been "unanimously" endorsed by the executive. The IOC had a "golden opportunity" with two "great cities" competing for 2024 and did not want to turn either away, he said. Interest in hosting Olympics has faded, with cities increasingly reluctant to take on the vast expense. The Paris and LA bids have both embraced cost efficiencies, vowing to use existing or temporary facilities. That offered an unprecedented chance to save money and set a new roadmap for organizing an Olympics, according to Bach. Assuming the dual award recommendation is approved at the July 11 session in Lausanne, the body's main meeting in Lima in September will then choose the host city for 2024 and 2028. Bach also underscored the importance of cutting the "onerous" costs linked to Olympic bidding — a problem partly solved by awarding two Games at once. He also laid out measure to make bidding cheaper in the future, including free IOC technical support to interested cities. Both Paris and LA have said they are fighting for 2024. Bach said that if the dual award is approved he hoped to strike "an agreement between the three parties" ahead of the Lima meeting, referring to the cities and the IOC. The question is, do Paris and LA agree? The French side has held a tougher line, with bid co-president Tony Estanguet insisting Paris "can't really consider 2028." LA, meanwhile, is seen as more open to a deal, especially after its bid chairman Casey Wasserman said this week that "LA 2024 has never been only about LA or 2024". When the idea of dual award emerged, LA did not give the IOC a "now or never" ultimatum, Wasserman said. Despite speculation that LA would be asked to wait, Bach insisted that "the race for '24 is going on", and that neither side had conceded. Both the French and the Americans have indicated they were open to having a discussion once the dual award plan is approved, the IOC chief said. Both bids applauded Friday's announcement, with Paris saying the IOC's move was "in the best interest of the Olympic movement". LA said in a statement it welcomed the "decision to recognize two excellent bids from two of the world's greatest cities." LA last hosted in 1984 and much of the infrastructure remains in place. Paris last hosted in 1924, so a return 100 years later would trigger marketing opportunities around the centenary. 3-on-3 basketball added to 2020 Tokyo Olympics The IOC added 3-on-3 basketball to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic program Friday in an effort to give the games a more youthful and urban appeal. In another move toward street sports, BMX Freestyle cycling will join the Olympics for the first time among a net increase of 15 gold medals for a 321-event program. However, the International Olympic Committee cut 285 athlete places from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games with track and field losing 105 spots. The overall athlete quota for 28 core sports will be 10,616 athletes in Tokyo, including 64 in 3-on-3 basketball. There will be eight teams in each of the men's and women's tournaments of the half-court format which was introduced at the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore. "The dream of a path from the streets to the Olympic Games has become reality for all the basketball community," said Patrick Baumann, the secretary general of basketball governing body FIBA. An urban Tokyo venue for 3-on-3 basketball could be announced when the IOC executive board meets again in Lausanne on July 9-10, IOC sports director Kit McConnell said. Track cycling will add men's and women's madison races in 2020 — in a velodrome about 130 kilometers (80 miles) outside Tokyo — and swimming will add men's 800-meter freestyle and women's 1,500 freestyle. Swimming also gets a 4x100-meter mixed medley relay among a broad increase in mixed gender events, including a 4x400 mixed relay on the track. The IOC expects women to account for 48.8 percent of the athletes in Tokyo. Events confirmed Friday are in addition to decisions last August to include sports climbing, skateboarding, surfing, baseball and softball, and karate in the Tokyo program. Among sports losing athlete places, weightlifting will have 64 fewer in Tokyo after reporting dozens of doping cases in retested samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Games. Wrestling will lose 56 places, sailing and shooting will each lose 30 and swimming will have 22 fewer. How exactly to cut 105 athletes from track and field will be discussed with the IAAF at its world championships in London in August, McConnell said. He noted that some sprint relay places typically went unused. —Agencies
