The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday officially awarded Paris the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics and Los Angeles the 2028 Games following a unanimous vote.

At its general meeting in Lima, the IOC took the unusual step of allocating the two events at the same time after Los Angeles, which had been bidding for the 2024 Games, agreed to drop the bid in exchange for hosting in 2028.

 Paris to host 2024 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles 2028 Games

Paris will host the Olympics for the first time in 100 years, while it will be the first time in 44 years for Los Angeles. Both cities will equal London's record of hosting the event three times.

"This historic double allocation is a 'win-win-win' situation for the city of Paris, the city of Los Angeles and the IOC," said IOC President Thomas Bach.

In mid-July, the IOC decided to award the 2024 and 2028 Summer Games simultaneously, as Paris and Los Angeles ended up as the only candidates for 2024 after cities such as Rome, Boston, Budapest and Hamburg dropped their bids during the campaign amid concerns over the high costs for staging the Olympics and Paralympics.

The IOC usually selects Olympic hosts seven years ahead but decided to simultaneously pick two cities at its extraordinary meeting in July in order to secure both Paris and Los Angeles.

The simultaneous decision was made for the first time since 1921 when the IOC awarded Paris the 1924 Olympics and Amsterdam the 1928 Games.

Yoshiro Mori, president of the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee, praised Bach's role as the driving force in the decision making in a unique double allocation vote.

"It's a display of Mr. Bach's strong leadership based on promoting reform without any preconceived ideas," said Mori.

"I have no doubt Tokyo, as well as Paris and Los Angeles, will host games that will bring about positive reforms for the world. I hope we can continue preparations to become a model case for future Olympics to follow," he said.

Japanese Olympic Committee president and IOC member Tsunekazu Takeda called the approval of the dual award "the best option" under the current economic situation, with more cities being reluctant to bid due to financial constraints.

The 2024 Paris Olympics, with the marathon course passing many landmarks including the Eiffel Tower, cycling road race on the Champs Elysees and equestrian events at the Palace of Versailles, will be held Aug. 2-18 and the Paralympics from Sept. 4-15.

The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will take place July 19-Aug. 4, with the Paralympics starting two weeks later on Aug. 18 until 29.