LA Loses Bid to Host Olympics

Los Angeles lost today in its effort to become the U.S. bidder to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, with the U.S. Olympic Committee choosing Boston instead.

The four U.S. finalists were Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. The four finalists were selected after a 16-month process that began with the USOC reaching out to about 35 U.S. cities to gauge interest in a bid.

The USOC made its final choice during a meeting at Denver International Airport.

Mayor Eric Garcetti helped give Los Angeles’ 45-minute group presentation to the USOC last month, touting the city’s growing public transportation system and existing venues such as Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles and the StubHub sports complex in Carson.

All potential bids for the 2024 Summer Olympics must be submitted by Sept. 15 to the International Olympic Committee, which will select the host city for both the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2017.

Potential foreign bidders include Rome; Nairobi, Kenya; Casablanca, Morocco; Johannesburg and Durban, South Africa; Doha, Qatar; Melbourne, Australia; Paris; Hamburg, Germany; and St. Petersburg, Russia.

The United States did not make a bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were awarded to Tokyo in 2013. Los Angeles sought to be the U.S. candidate to host the 2016 Games but was beaten by Chicago, whose bid was ultimately rejected by the International Olympic Committee in favor of Rio de Janeiro.

Los Angeles was looking to join London as the only cities to host the Summer Olympics three times. Los Angeles was the site of the 1932 and 1984 Games.

The Summer Olympics were last held in the United States in 1996, when Atlanta was the site.

• City News Service
• Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons