Los Angeles trying to secure U.S. bid for 2024 Olympic Games
Los Angeles is seeking to become a three-time Olympic host as it is making a presentation on Tuesday to the U.S. Olympic Committee in an effort to host the 2024 Olympic Games, David Wharton of the Los Angeles Times reports.
Los Angeles previously hosted the Summer Games in 1932 and 1984. The USOC will only submit one bid to the International Olympic Committee and is considering Los Angeles along with Boston, San Francisco and Washington.
The uphill climb for L.A. appears to be the need to overcome the “been there, done that” objection with three cities that have never hosted the Games also in contention, according to Wharton.
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Mayor Eric Garcetti talked about “a bold vision for a sustainable, affordable and inspiring Games that will directly benefit our community.”
Initial plans proposed staging events at familiar locations, such as holding martial arts competitions at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, fencing in the Nokia Theatre, beach volleyball on the Santa Monica shoreline and using the Queen Mary and Long Beach as the hub for sailing events.
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Staples Center would host multiple events and the venerable Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum would be refurbished while retaining its iconic facade.
That existing infrastructure could make Los Angeles an attractive location as the IOC looks to decrease the cost of hosting the games after Russian spent $51 billion to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.
- Phil Watson
