Los Angeles could learn today following a meeting of the United States Olympic Committee Board of Directors in Colorado whether it will be chosen as the American city offered as the site of the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Representatives from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Washington, D.C., made their final presentations to the USOC board on Dec. 16. The four finalists were selected after a 16-month process that began with the USOC reaching out to about 35 U.S. cities to gauge interest in a bid.
At today’s meeting at Denver International Airport, the board is expected to discuss the merits of each city’s pitch and decide which American applicant will be submitted to the International Olympic Committee to be considered as a host city.
Mayor Eric Garcetti, who helped give Los Angeles’ 45-minute group presentation last month, said he and others touted the city’s growing public transportation system and existing venues such as Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles and the StubHub sports complex in Carson.
All potential bids for the 2024 Summer Olympics must be submitted by Sept. 15 to the International Olympic Committee, which will select the host city for both the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2017.
Potential foreign bidders include Rome; Nairobi, Kenya; Casablanca, Morocco; Johannesburg and Durban, South Africa; Doha, Qatar; Melbourne, Australia; Paris; Hamburg, Germany; and St. Petersburg, Russia.
The United States did not make a bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were awarded to Tokyo in 2013. Los Angeles sought to be the U.S. candidate to host the 2016 Games but was beaten by Chicago, whose bid was ultimately rejected by the International Olympic Committee in favor of Rio de Janeiro.
Los Angeles is seeking to join London as the only cities to host the Summer Olympics three times. Los Angeles was the site of the 1932 and 1984 Games.
The Summer Olympics were last held in the United States in 1996, when Atlanta was the site.
