Olympic Torch Tower of the Los Angeles Coliseum on the day of the opening ceremonies of the XXIII Summer Olympics on July 28, 1984. UPI file photo
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. Olympic Committee and Los Angeles have teamed up to bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics after Boston dropped out over cost concerns.
Los Angeles is now the official U.S. candidate for the games, city officials said in an announcement Tuesday. After a week of delays over potential costs to tax payers, the city council voted unanimously in support of Mayor Eric Garcetti signing an agreement with the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), placing the city in contention for the games alongside the likes of Paris, Rome, Budapest and Hamburg.
Garcetti assured residents Los Angeles would not face significant financial challenges because the infrastructure is already in place from when the city hosted the games in 1932 and 1984. USOC Chief Executive Scott Blackman said the city's bid fit well with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) agenda for 2020, which prioritizes as little infrastructure construction as possible for host cities.
USOC chairman Larry Probst said "now we have to convince 55 or so IOC members that Los Angeles is the best city to host the Olympics."
Sports marketing executive Casey Wasserman, who is leading the city's bid, said Los Angeles is a global sports destination with venues that already exist or would be built whether the games are hosted there or not.
The USOC originally nominated Boston to be the candidate in January, rejecting bids from San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. Boston dropped its bid in July, and those a reason wasn't officially given, Mayor Martin Walsh said he didn't want taxpayers to pay for preparations should local Olympic organizers run out of money.
Boston isn't the only city to drop out of contention to host the Olympics in recent years. London bowed out of its bid for the 2022 Winter Games when it realized hosting would cost three times more than initially expected.
