Macron talks up 2024 Paris Olympic bid to Bach

Posted May 12, 2017 7:00 am

The Associated Press

PARIS (AP) - French President-elect Emmanuel Macron has thrown his weight behind Paris' bid for the 2024 Olympics, telling IOC President Thomas Bach of its "expected benefits for all French people."

The pair spoke by phone Thursday. A statement from Macron's campaign team on Friday said Bach "saluted the great quality of the French candidature" and that Macron "warmly reaffirmed" his support for Paris' bid. The French capital is competing against Los Angeles for the 2024 Games.

Macron told Bach that Paris' bid is backed by the French sports world and he talked up "the expected benefits for all French people," according to the statement from the En Marche! campaign team.

Macron will meet next week with an International Olympic Committee inspection team coming to assess the Paris bid.

A separate statement from the Paris bid committee said Macron "confirmed his support for the Paris 2024 bid by making it a priority to speak with President Bach."

Macron, elected May 7, takes power on Sunday.

Paris bid co-chair Tony Estanguet, a three-time Olympic champion in canoeing, said Macron has supported the bid from "the very beginning."

"Paris 2024 shares his vision of an ambitious country open to the world that shares Olympic values," Estanguet said.

FILE - This is a Friday, Feb. 3, 2017 file photo of French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve as he delivers his speech during the launch of the international campaign of Paris as candidate for the 2024 Olympic summer games in Paris. Los Angeles and Paris await their Olympic inspectors this week already seen as winning options for the 2024 Summer Games. Both cities host three-day visits by an International Olympic Committee panel, whose chairman does not doubt their sports staging skills. âEither way, we will have fantastic Olympic Games,â IOC evaluation commission chairman Patrick Baumann told The Associated Press.on Monday May 8, 2017.(AP Photo/Francois Mori) The Associated Press

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