And here’s where the Summer Olympics 2024 might be!
The 2024 Olympics may be nine years away, but already there’s been talk about where it will be held. And good news, LA dwellers — the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) confirmed today that it is in discussions with the city of Los Angeles about possibly holding the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games there. Oh, happy days!
“We continue to think that a U.S. bid for the 2024 Games can be successful,” said USOC chairman Larry Probst following a USOC board of directors meeting at the Denver International Airport. “The board authorized CEO Scott Blackmun to work with Los Angeles to explore the viability of a potential bid for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
“We hope to finalize terms that benefit both the city of Los Angeles and the Olympic Movement in the United States so that we can submit a world-class bid to the IOC by its September 2015 deadline,” Probst continued.
YAAAS. If this were to happen, it wouldn’t be the first time LA has hosted the Games. In fact, the Games were held at the Olympics in 1932 and 1984. And it’s definitely looking like a real possibility — after all, 81% of Angelinos support the hypothetical decision, Team USA reports. According to the Boston Globe, Boston was in the running for a while. . . until the city’s bid collapsed after they couldn’t pull their numbers out of the low 40s.
USOC is “optimistic” about finalizing an agreement with LA. “Los Angeles has been there [as a two-time Olympic host] and understands the tremendous upside,” USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun said after a USOC meeting in Denver, according to Boston Globe. “They’re also very aware that with any big project there is risk. They’ve taken a hard look at that and the calculus suggests to them the benefits far outweigh the risk.”
Plus, the two times LA has hosted the games went spectacularly. “LA hasn’t had any bad experiences doing this,” Ed Hula, editor of Around the Rings (which covers the Olympic movement), told Boston Globe. “They haven’t had costs overruns or taxpayer bailouts.”
Boston, however, was afraid of exactly the opposite happening for their city. “I don’t think Boston feared the Games — and I say that as a Red Sox-loving Massachusetts native — I think they rightly feared the finances,” Amy Bass, professor at The College of New Rochelle, told Boston Globe. “While Boston was right to be cautious, I think New England’s nature made it almost too cautious. Hollywood, however, is always confident it knows how to throw a big party and remain able to clean up the next day.”
Sounds like an Olympics in LA is *probably* gonna happen, but we’re gonna have to wait some time to get the definite confirmation; the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic host city won’t be officially selected in the summer of 2017.
(Image via Shutterstock)
