European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen has endorsed the Paris 2024 bid for the Olympic Games.
The backing for Paris comes quickly in the wake of the French capital being confirmed as the Host City for the 2020 European Athletics Championships by the European Athletics Council last Friday.
“It is not just a question of Paris being the sole European candidate and the fact that continental sports organisations should back each other in this respect. European Athletics has looked at both bids and we believe that Paris is the best from an overall perspective and specifically with regards to our sport,” said Hansen.
“I am very happy, both personally and on behalf of European Athletics, to give my full backing and support to the Paris bid for the 2024 Olympic Games.
“Paris excels in its technical facets relating to how it will host the various sports although our interest is based around the fact that if it wins athletics will be the focal point of the Games.
“What is particularly impressive is the Paris 2024 commitment to sustainability, which is a very important area of interest to European Athletics.
“I understand that Paris 2024 recently became the first ever Olympic and Paralympic Bid Committee to receive an internationally recognised sustainability award (the ISO 20121 best-practice award) only given to organisers who are able to the guarantee the sustainable management of their events.
“This ethos mirrors that of the Paris 2020 European Athletics Championships, which is also placing sustainability centre stage, something we have been pushing our organisers to do for a number of years through our Green Inspiration concept.“Should Paris be awarded the 2024 Olympic Games, the 2020 European Athletics Championships will provide a wonderful opportunity for the organisers to go through their paces in all areas, not least technically and environmentally, four years in advance of the city staging the world’s greatest sports event.”