AFTER Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced that the city is dropping its bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics, the door has opened for the US Olympic Committee (USOC) to name a last-minute replacement – meaning Los Angeles could have a spot.
Only a few months ago, a bid proposal spearheaded by LA Mayor Eric Garcetti finished a close second in a four-city competition to become the next host for the 2024 Olympics.
In a press conference on Monday, July 27, Boston Mayor Walsh said he could not support the city’s bid – which has received low support – if that meant signing a host city contract now, as he had been asked to do by the USOC. Walsh asserted he would not commit to anything that would mortgage his city’s future to fund the Olympic Games.
“This is a commitment that I can’t make without ensuring the city and its residents will be protected…I cannot commit to putting the taxpayers at risk,” Walsh said. “If committing to signing a guarantee today is what’s required to move forward, then Boston is no longer pursuing the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
“I’m not going to question whatever decision the USOC makes,” said Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, adding that he would support the organizing body’s ultimate decision and hopes that the International Olympic Committee would select an American city. “I’ve had two brief conversations with the USOC.”
Meanwhile, officials from the USOC and Los Angeles have repeatedly denied having any official contact. But it has been no secret that Los Angeles would be ready and willing to mount a bid on short notice.
The city’s proposal stressed economic efficiency, with events held throughout the city, many at existing venues such as Staples Center and the renovated Pauley Pavilion.
Neither the committee nor Garcetti’s office commented on the situation. Their bid would also include a revamped Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Two other cities involved in last winter’s domestic bid competition—San Francisco and Washington, DC—may also seek to get back in the running.
Potential hosts have until mid-September to submit an official application to the International Olympic Committee. Rome, Paris, Budapest, and Hamburg, Germany, have already declared their intentions to bid. Following the success of the Pan American Games in July, Toronto also plans to enter the field.
Applications for 2024 bid cities are due to the International Olympic Committee by September 15.
The entire process will stretch over two years of preparations and meetings before the IOC will choose an official host city in summer 2017. From there, the chosen city would be expected to sign a guarantee to cover cost overruns and make sure the Games would be held in time.
The Summer Olympics last came to the US in 1996 in Atlanta, and before that in Los Angeles, both in 1984 and 1932. (With reports from USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Politico)
