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Paris makes 2024 Olympic bid official

Paris has officially declared itself a candidate to host the 2024 Olympic Games by submitting its letter of intention to the International Olympic Committee on Saturday, the Olympic Ambition Association (AAO) announced.

Published: 12 September 2015 12:32 CEST

Paris makes 2024 Olympic bid official

Young athletes and schoolchildren pose in Paris during a gathering as part of the official launch for the Paris bid for the 2024 Olympics. Photo: Thomas Oliva/AFP

“The Olympic spirit and the city of Paris share a common attachment to unity in diversity, tolerance in the face of differences and the same belief in peace of openness,” the letter, addressed to IOC president Thomas Bach and signed jointly by French National Olympic Committee president Denis Masseglia, and Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, explained.

The AAO, who are organising the bid, promise to “build a project which is unforgettable, innovative, responsible and sustainable”.

The letter concluded: “Hosting the Games is to open up to the world and Paris is firmly rooted in the tradition of extending a welcome, which our candidature hopes to express.”

Budapest, Hamburg, Los Angeles and Rome have also declared an interest in hosting the Games in 2024 and have either already submitted their official letters of candidature or are expected to do so in the near future, while Toronto, Doha and Baku have yet to decide officially whether to pursue their Olympic ambitions.

A decision on the 2024 host city will be taken at the IOC congress in Lima in September 2017.

Fluffy nuisance: Outcry as Paris sends Invalides rabbits into exile

Tourists and Parisians have long been accustomed to the sight of wild rabbits frolicking around the lawns of Les Invalides, one of the French capital’s great landmarks.

But efforts are underway to relocate the fluffy animals, accused of damaging the gardens and drains around the giant edifice that houses Napoleon’s tomb, authorities said.

Police said that several dozen bunnies had been captured since late January and relocated to the private estate of Breau in the Seine-et-Marne region outside Paris, a move that has prompted an outcry from animal rights activists.

“Two operations have taken place since 25 January,” the police prefecture told AFP.

“Twenty-four healthy rabbits were captured on each occasion and released after vaccination” in Seine-et-Marne, the prefecture said.

Six more operations are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks.

Around 300 wild rabbits live around Les Invalides, according to estimates.

“The overpopulation on the site is leading to deteriorating living conditions and health risks,” the prefecture said.

Authorities estimate the cost of restoring the site, which has been damaged by the proliferation of underground galleries and the deterioration of gardens, pipes and flora, at €366,000.

Animal rights groups denounced the operation.

The Paris Animaux Zoopolis group said the rabbits were being subjected to “intense stress” or could be killed “under the guise of relocation”.

“A number of rabbits will die during capture and potentially during transport,” said the group, accusing authorities of being “opaque” about their methods.

The animal rights group also noted that Breau was home to the headquarters of the Seine-et-Marne hunting federation.

The police prefecture insisted that the animals would not be hunted.

In 2021, authorities classified the rabbits living in Paris as a nuisance but the order was reversed following an outcry from animal groups who have been pushing for a peaceful cohabitation with the animals.

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