The Olympic rings are seen during a training session for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games at the ''Laura'' cross-country and biathlon centre in Rosa Khutor in this file photo taken on February 3, 2014 (Reuters)
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.
"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.
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