17 Dec 2014
Bidding for 2024 Olympics hots up as USA joins race
BY Tom Walker
The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) has confirmed it will bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games, with one of Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Washington, D.C becoming the official bid city.
USOC could make a decision on its candidate city as early as next month (January 2015), ahead of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) submission deadline for official bids in September 2015.
The race to host the 2024 Olympic Games is now hotting up, with Rome, Italy confirming earlier this week that it will make a bid. The German Olympic Committee has also said it will be entering a bid, with either Hamburg or Berlin being put forward as the candidate city. Paris is also expected to bid – following unsuccessful bids in 2012 and 2008 – after French president Francois Hollande last month signalled his support for hosting the Games.
Announcing its bid yesterday, USOC said it is keen to have a strong legacy plan in place for the candidate city it will put forward to the IOC next year.
Scott Blackmun, USOC chief executive, said the committee was “conscious of potential cost overruns of hosting the event” – and that the Games should fit into the long-term infrastructural vision of the host city.
As part of the strategy, the four US cities were asked to present their bids – including a legacy pledge – to the USOC.
“I think everyone is aware of the cost associated with recent Games,” Blackmun said. “This (bid city presentations) is one way to make sure there’s a tangible benefit that goes along with the cost of hosting those Games.
“Each city had very different presentations, and each city had excellent presentations,”
“We didn’t start with a request that the city describe its bid. We asked the city to describe its vision for 10, 20, 30 years, and how the Olympics will fit in and accelerate those plans."
For more on the USOC bid, click here.
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