IOC picks officials to oversee Olympic progress in Paris, LA

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The IOC says it has appointed members to lead panels overseeing preparations for the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant, president of the Belgian Olympic body, will chair the coordination commission for Paris. The International Olympic Committee says the panel’s first visit is scheduled for mid-2018.

Beckers-Vieujant, a former CEO in the food retail industry, is a member of the IOC’s finance and ethics commissions.

The IOC says Swiss member Patrick Baumann will be vice chair of the Paris panel and head the LA coordination group.

Baumann, the secretary general of basketball body FIBA, led the IOC panel evaluating Paris and LA as bidders. He replaced former Olympic sprinter Frank Fredericks, who is implicated in receiving a $300,000 payment linked to Rio de Janeiro’s 2016 Olympic bid.