Paris to End Its 100-Year Wait for Third Olympic Games

The Rio 2016 Olympic Games will dominate the sports world in August but the race to host the 2024 edition could take a turn before more than 10,000 athletes compete in Brazil.

The International Olympic Committee has confirmed that four bids – Budapest, Los Angeles, Paris and Rome – are free to continue along the 2024 Olympic Games road with its blessing but two of those European cities may not make it to the next checkpoint in December and, if they fall by the wayside, the odds of the other European city will contract significantly.

Budapest is one of the European bids for the 2024 Olympic Games that is in jeopardy. Hungary’s highest court blocked a referendum questioning Budapest’s 2024 Olympic Games bid earlier this year and there remains a strong chance that Hungarian voters will go to polls about the issue. Surveys put Hungarian support for Budapest’s 2024 Olympic Games bid at around 60 per cent, which is insufficiently high to impress International Olympic Committee members. Bookmakers believe that Budapest is the outsider in the 2024 Olympic Games race and one would not be at all surprised if it did not make it to the election scheduled for September 2017.

Rome’s 2024 Olympic Games bid is in even more peril than that of Budapest. Virginia Raggi is on the brink of becoming Rome’s mayor and if, as expected, she beats pro-2024 Olympic Games bid candidate Roberto Giachetti in Sunday’s vote, the chances of the Eternal City being on the September 2017 ballot paper will decrease. Raggi has been very vocal against Rome’s 2024 Olympic Games bid, claiming that the city has much better uses for the funds that would go into attempting to secure the event. Raggi says that she is not anti-Olympic Games but that she thinks that it is the wrong time for Rome to be bidding to put on the major competition.

History shows that the support of a city’s mayor is crucial in Olympic Games bids. Mayors are key figures in numerous aspects of a city’s Olympic Games bid and it would be very unusual for a metropolis to succeed in its quest without a supporting politician in that position. And remember that Rome withdrew from the 2020 Olympic Games bid race so the Italian capital has walked away to the frustration of the International Olympic Committee previously. The members of the International Olympic Committee have long memories.

Paris is trading as the 2024 Olympic Games host favourite at odds of 1.91Bet €100 to win €19191/100Bet £100 to win £191-110Bet $100 to win $1910.91Bet HK$100 to win HK$191-1.10Bet Rp100 to win Rp1910.9100Bet RM100 to win RM191  with Coral. Taking less than even money about an option in a market that bookmakers will not settle for 15 months may not excite some punters but, if Budapest and/or Rome do not make it as far as September 2017, there is every chance that Paris will be long odds on at voting time.

Both Paris and Los Angeles are bidding to host their third Olympic Games but the French capital has not staged the event since 1924, whereas the American city had its most recent crack in 1984. Also, by 2024 it will be 12 years since an Olympic Games in Europe and never before has the gap between Olympic Games in Europe exceeded that period.

Paris is a rock-solid 2024 Olympic Games host favourite at odds of 1.91Bet €100 to win €19191/100Bet £100 to win £191-110Bet $100 to win $1910.91Bet HK$100 to win HK$191-1.10Bet Rp100 to win Rp1910.9100Bet RM100 to win RM191  and one thinks that the market leader could trade in the region of 1.20 if one or both of Budapest and Rome withdraws, thereby reducing the likelihood of the European bloc of International Olympic Committee votes splitting. The International Olympic Committee will award the 2024 Olympic Games to a city on 13 September 2017.

Tips Summary

Paris to host the Olympic Games 2024
Result announced 13th September 2017
Odds: 1.91Bet €100 to win €19191/100Bet £100 to win £191-110Bet $100 to win $1910.91Bet HK$100 to win HK$191-1.10Bet Rp100 to win Rp1910.9100Bet RM100 to win RM191