Toronto Mayor, John Tory, met the press early yesterday to confirm the city would not proceed with a bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
“I believe that one day Toronto will be a great venue for the Olympic Games, but not in 2024,” Tory said, at a news conference held in Nathan Phillips Square outside city hall. “Time was against us in building the kind of support you have to have from the community in order for this to work… “I am not saying no to the Olympics. I am saying not this time.”
“I am not saying no to the Olympics. I am saying not this time.”
Much had been made of the success of the Pan Am and Para Pan Am Games which the city hosted so successfully this past summer, And while there was a brief wave of support for an Olympic bid, many in Canada’s largest city yesterday, expressed relief with the news that the city was passing on the opportunity.
According to a municipal study it was estimated that bidding alone would have cost between $50 million and $60 million Cdn, and hosting the Games would cost between $3.3 billion and $7 billion Cdn.
“We have to invest in making sure this city works for everyone,” Tory said. “Making that investment happen shouldn’t be contingent on a vote of the International Olympic Committee. It should happen because it is the right thing to do.”
Tory said he will create a panel to advise on bidding for future major events in Toronto, including another summer or winter Olympics, the FIFA World Cup or a world expo.
The cities still vying to host the 2024 Olympic Games are, Los Angeles, the only other North American city, Paris, Rome, Hamburg and Budapest. The winning city will be announced in 2017.
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