Exactly one hundred years after the valley organized the first Winter Olympic Games in history, Chamonix might host the climbing event of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, held in Paris.
Paris 2024 - Summer Olympic Games
The year 2024 might seem far away, but it takes a lot of preparation to successfully organize such a colossal event as the Summer Olympic Games.
More than five years apart, the 2024 Summer Olympic Games will be held in Paris.
Also called the "Games of France", the organizing committee in Paris is looking to relocate some races.
The Olympic committee in charge of Paris 2024 made a trip to Chamonix last week to present a summary of the progress of the event.
"We need to open the door to the entire territory", announced Bernard Lapasset, honorary president of the organizing committee of the Olympic Games.
One of those Olympic events which are to take place outside Paris is the climbing event.
The climbing event will make its debut at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing in 2020.
And is there a better choice for organizing the Olympic climbing event than Chamonix?
Regarded as the world capital of winter sports and offering breathtaking views of the impressive Mont-Blanc, Chamonix seems to be the plausible choice of the Olympic climbing event.
There is also the symbolic coincidence of the Paris Summer Olympic Games being held exactly one hundred years after the first Winter Olympic Games, which took place in Chamonix.
"What is certain is that there is a strong link between 1924 and 2024. Now, it is the magnitude of the link that must be determined", declared Éric Fournier, the mayor of Chamonix.
Moreover, Chamonix has been organizing the Climbing World Cup for almost 20 years.
The Climbing World Cup in 2019 will be a test.
Chamonix has been organizing a Climbing Cup since 2002, so the city has a lot of experience and knowledge in this matter.
The Climbing World Cup will take place in Chamonix from the 11th to the 13th of July 2019 and Éric Fournier thinks "it will be a bit of a test".
Éric Fournier and its vice-president in charge of sports, Marie-Noëlle Fleury, think that this summer's World Climbing Cup will be carefully watched by the Olympic Committee.
The outcome of the Climbing World Cup this summer will weigh a lot in deciding whether Chamonix should organize the Olympic climbing event of Paris 2024.
