On Tuesday morning, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti met with members of the United States Olympic Committee in the San Francisco suburb of Redwood, California to convince them that L.A. is the best choice for the 2024 Olympics.
Other cities competing for a chance to host the games with the International Olympic Committee are San Francisco, Washington, and Boston.
Only three of the four cities might be accepted for consideration, according to the Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles has hosted the Olympics twice before (1932 and 1984), which means Garcetti has to convince those involved in the bidding process why the city is worthy of a third run. “The Olympics have been held in London three times,” said Jeff Millman, a spokesman for the mayor, “So it can be done in Los Angeles, too.”
Several venues that were suggested to host the games for each individual sport were the Walt Disney Concert Hall for Martial Arts, the Nokia Theatre for Fencing, the Santa Monica shoreline for Beach volleyball, the Queen Mary and Long Beach for Sailing and the Staples Center for Swimming. There was reportedly some talk surrounding use of the Hollywood Bowl, but that notion was dismissed, according to the Times. The Coliseum would reportedly get a facelift as well.
Rob Livingstone, who writes about the Olympic bidding process for the coveted games, said that while he’s always “loved San Francisco as a possible site,” there are some issues with it – a reference to the failed 2016 Olympics bid over a contentious fight between the San Francisco 49ers and the city regarding a proposed stadium near their former home, Candlestick Park.
Much discourse and debate has surrounded the economic feasibility of hosting the games. Boston, for example, has never hosted the Olympics and would need to construct an Olympic stadium, athletes village, aquatics center and velodrome, notes the Times. A report released by the commission predicts it would cost approximately $4 to $5 billion to host the games; that figure does not even include aesthetic improvements to the city’s infrastructure.
Growing political unpopularity for America stemming from Washington, D.C. could wind up precluding them from consideration in the running.
Still, Los Angeles could present itself as a viable candidate, particularly in light of a recent report which revealed that if the Golden State were an independent nation, it would be ranked as the eighth largest economy in the world in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Los Angeles, Orange County, and the San Francisco Bay area accounted for over 50% of the state’s total GDP. Los Angeles has also cemented its place in history as being the entertainment capital of the world.
The International Olympic Committee will reportedly not announce its decision until 2017.
Adelle Nazarian is on Twitter @AdelleNaz
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