Key questions remain about possible Toronto 2024 Olympic bid with deadline drawing close

Key questions still remain about Toronto's possible 2024 Olympic bid ©Getty Images

Major questions remain about Toronto's possible bid for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics – with the deadline to officially commit looming large.

The Canadian city has been mulling over whether to bid following July's successful staging of the Pan American Games but the city's mayor John Tory and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne say they are missing "key information" ahead of Tuesday's cut-off point.

A cost estimate for hosting the Games and whether venues from the Pan American Games can be used are said to be questions that need to be answered, as confirmed 2024 bidders Rome, Hamburg, Budapest, Paris and Los Angeles press ahead with their efforts.

"There are a lot of questions that haven’t been answered, and it’s a very short period," said Wynne to a press conference in Canada.

The Pan American Games in Toronto reignited talk of an Olympic bid ©Getty Images

“There are a lot of questions and if we still have questions I think the general public would also have questions about what the cost would be, what the role of the various governments would be and what the possibility of using venues that have already been built for the Pan Am Games is.

"I am not going to rush into something that would put us at risk.”

Mr Tory has reportedly asked for answers to these questions but has acknowledged that the success of the Pan American Games has put his city behind others.

“I think, to be candid, a lot of the enthusiasm about bidding came in the wake of the very successful Pan Am Games,” he told the Globe & Mail.

“I don’t apologise for a second for the fact that we were a bit behind on that, because nobody had really been pursuing this until quite recently.”

Canadian Olympic Committee President Marcel Aubut has met with Wynne to discuss the possibility of Toronto hosting the 2024 Games.

He said: "I’m available to advise people. I’m available to meet leaders.”

If a bid is submitted, it won't be the first time Toronto has thrown its hat into the ring.

They were beaten by Beijing in the race for the 2008 Games and were also third behind Atlanta and Athens in the 1996 battle.

Eighteen months ago, the city's Economic Development Committee voted to defer a 2024 bid, citing costs, but the success of the Pan American Games and other factors, such as the International Olympic Committee's Agenda 2020 reform process, which allows hosts more flexibility in drawing up a bid which best suits local demands, have prompted a change of thought.

The 2024 host is due to be selected at the 2017 IOC Session in Lima, Peru.