Jacqueline Barrett, director of future Olympic Games hosts for the IOC, has stressed the need for cities aiming to stage the Olympics to use either existing or temporary venues to hold competitions to ensure a more sustainable event.

The IOC official also revealed that the organisation was asking potential bidders to consider hosting sports outside of their own country to avoid building new sites.

Her comments come after a study from the IOC claimed that 85 per cent of all permanent Olympic venues since inaugural edition of the modern Games in 1896 remain in use.

The report, which was released at the recent IOC Session held remotely from Lausanne in Switzerland, is said to be the first-ever official inventory of the post-Games use of 817 permanent and 106 temporary Olympic venues across 51 editions.

But the IOC is aiming to reduce the number of new venues built for the Olympics in a bid to "become even more sustainable in the future" as part of its strategic roadmap outlined in its Olympic Agenda 2020.

Barrett argues that the IOC is "not against construction" but insists Olympic organisers must demonstrate a "robust legacy plan" for any new development.

"What we are trying to do with all the future hosts is to make sure that their Games project meets the needs of their communities and that there is no construction specifically for the Games," said Barrett.

"If there is construction and a venue is being built, we have got to be sure that this is something that the community is doing for itself anyway, whether it is a private initiative or Government initiative.

"But that venue or those venues are going to be there irrespective of hosting the Games or not.

"It is not up to us to determine how a venue should be run if it is already there, that’s for the community to decide but anything that is potentially being built we need to make sure that it is being done irrespective of the Games.

"We want to make sure that there is good use and the various stakeholders are around the table and aligned with that use for the future.

"There is a plan for it that it is going to be used after the Games and it is going to be successful so it won’t be a white elephant."

The next editions of the Summer and Winter Olympics have reduced their planned construction with five and seven per cent of the venues for the respective Paris 2024 and Milan-Cortina 2026 Games set to be built.

Los Angeles is aiming to stage the Olympic Games in 2028 without building a single new permanent venue.

"Olympic hosts now have more flexibility to design the Games so that they meet the long-term development plans of a city or region," said Marie Sallois, director of corporate and sustainable development for the IOC.

"Today, it is the Games that adapt to their host and not the other way around."

The IOC has moved away from the traditional bidding process, with its Future Host Commission instead identifying and proposing its preferred candidate to the Executive Board.

The Executive Board can then enter targeted dialogue with a bid before choosing whether or not to recommend that a proposal is brought to a vote at an IOC Session.

Brisbane 2032 became the first edition of the Summer Olympics awarded under this format, when it entered targeted dialogue with the IOC Executive Board in February last year before having its hosting rights rubber-stamped at the 138^th Session in Tokyo.

Barrett said there was "a little bit of resistance" from future hosts to "really believe" the IOC would be willing to allow them to stage events outside the bidders' country.

"We are working with each interested party to look very closely at what they have wherever it might be," added Barrett.

"That includes the Winter Games, encouraging hosts to use existing monofunctional venues."

The IOC’s report, called "Over 125 years of Olympic venues: post-Games", looks into every edition from Athens 1896 to Pyeongchang 2018.

It was compiled through data collection and consultation with venue owners and operators as well as legacy entities, city and regional Governments and National Olympic Committees.

According to the study, 75 per cent of the 32 permanent venues used at Athens 2004 remain in use.

It claims that this rate rose to 83 per cent for Sapporo 1972, 93 per cent for Rio 2016, 94 per cent for Barcelona 1992 and 100 per cent for Vancouver 2010 and Salt Lake City 2002 which both used 12 permanent venues.

Only 35 of the overall 817 permanent venues reported by the IOC were either closed, inactive or abandoned since being used at the respective Games.

"This report is a very impressive testimony to the legacy that the Olympic Games create in the host cities and regions," added Christophe Dubi, Olympic Games executive director for the IOC.

"We are thrilled to see that the overwhelming majority of Olympic venues continue to offer sports competition and training opportunities at elite and grassroots levels, while creating health and social benefits in past Olympic hosts.

"With the IOC’s focus on sustainability and legacy, the lessons from the past are more important than ever.

"By looking at the post-Games trajectory of Olympic venues, we wanted to better understand the likelihood of their continued use.

"This will help us ensure that future Olympic Games continue to create even more sustainable legacies for their hosts, responding to their long-term sustainable development needs."