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Paris, April 13 (IANS)
France took a decisive step towards officially announcing a bid for the 2024 Olympics after the council in Paris voted in favour of supporting the country's capital city's bid for the quadrennial event here on Monday.
163 councillors have given their backing to mayor Anne Hidalgo's resolution.
Hidalgo, who was reticent for a long time, has in recent months agreed with French president Francois Hollande that Paris should host the grand event exactly 100 years after it last held the Games.
The French National Olympic Committee now has until September 15 to formally declare the candidacy to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne.
Paris failed in bids for the 1992, 2008 and 2012 Games. The birthplace of "Founder of the Modern Olympics" Pierre de Coubertin has twice hosted the Summer Olympics in 1924 and 1900 when Olympics came as part of the World Expo.
Boston, Rome and Hamburg have already launched their bids for the 2024 Games, with the IOC to take the final decision in 2017.
