The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has confirmed new dates for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The board announced this is in a statement released on Tuesday via “www.paralympic.org’’.
The board met in PyeongChang ahead of the opening of the 2018 Olympic Winter Games.
It was decided there that the Paris 2024 Games will now take place a week earlier than originally proposed.
The Olympic Games will hold from July 26 to Aug. 11, while the Paralympic is scheduled to hold between Aug. 28 and Sept. 8.
The Olympics had earlier been scheduled for Aug. 2 to Aug. 18, while the Paralympics had been slated for Sept. 4 to Sept. 15.
This change came in response to the willingness of the IOC, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and Paris 2024 to facilitate the organisation of the competitions.
It is also meant to offer the best possible exposure to the Paralympic Games, whose first half will now take place during the period of school holidays.
During the visit of the Evaluation Commission in May 2017, the IOC and the IPC had expressed reservations about the originally proposed calendar.
This was also especially with regards to the Sept. 8 to Sept. 15 time-frame, the second week of the Paralympic Games.
In close collaboration with its stakeholders and government agencies, Paris 2024 conducted a comprehensive study on the impact of a change in dates.
This would enable the organisers address all operational aspects including transportation, security, spectator experience, logistics, etc.
The study, which proposed to advance the Games by one week, was welcomed by the IPC as well as the IOC, who approved it during its Executive Board meeting in PyeongChang.
(NAN)
