The Americans are no longer the only ones sharpening their weapons in the battle for the 2024 Games. Canadians are getting in on the action too. And, unlike Europeans, they make no secret of it. Just re-elected for a second term at the head of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Marcel Aubut is laying down his cards. He wants the Summer Games. He wants them in Toronto, the largest city in the country, ranked 4th rank of North American metropolises behind Mexico, New York and Los Angeles. And he wants them, if possible, in 2024.
“There is no doubt that the Summer Olympics are at the forefront of what our country needs most,” suggests Marcel Aubut. I can tell you that people in Lausanne think very highly of us. At the IOC, they love Canada. And they dream of seeing a country like ours organize the Games. With us there would be no political problems. And no terrorist threat either. »
To date, the Canadian candidacy has nothing concrete yet. But imagining Toronto entering the race already seems legitimate. Canada hosted the Winter Games in 1988 in Calgary, then very recently in Vancouver, in February 2010. But its last Summer Games date back to 1976, the year Montreal organized the event.
Above all, Toronto and Canada could benefit from a very favorable schedule. Ontario's capital was chosen to host the Pan American Games in 2015, a multi-sport competition that has often served as both a showcase and a launch for an Olympic bid. The event turns out to be ideally placed, since it is located two years before the IOC's choice of the host city for the 2024 Games.
Another argument: Canada is considering a bid from Quebec for the 2022 Winter Games. If successful, Toronto would pack up its files. But, otherwise, Ontario's file could benefit from the studies, expertise and network built by Québec 2022.
Marcel Aubut knows that such an adventure cannot be attempted without strong political support. “We must first ensure that the idea of a Toronto candidacy arouses interest among the population and is supported by the government,” explains the French-speaking lawyer, former president of the ice hockey team. of the Quebec Nordiques. But he is aware that the rule of geographical alternation, unwritten but real, should favor North America in the battle for the 2024 Games. The Americans are already showing up with the air of first in class . But Canada could, who knows, confuse the issue.
