Budapest city council backs 2024 Olympics bid in race against L.A., Paris
A day after the Los Angeles City Council voted to formally approve a bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics, political leaders in Budapest have taken a similar step.
Twenty-one of 29 council members in the Hungarian capital gave their endorsement Thursday, with four dissenting and four abstaining.
“This vote further strengthens our bid, and with overwhelming support from the government of Hungary it enables us to deliver a brilliant, beautiful Games in a city ready to deliver,” said Balázs Fürjes, chairman of the Budapest 2024 bid committee.
The campaign still faces a potential challenge, with a political youth organization called the Momentum Movement collecting signatures for a referendum. Previous efforts to force a vote have failed.
The competition for 2024 also includes Paris, which fell short in bids for 2008 and 2012 but is now seen as a strong contender, if not a slight favorite.
Candidate cities are due to submit their third and final packet of bid documents to the International Olympic Committee next week.
The IOC is scheduled to select a host in September, and there has been talk of naming winners for both 2024 and 2028.
Bid leaders in L.A. and Paris have said they are focused solely on the 2024 Games.
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