L.A. Mayor Touts 2024 Olympic Bid

(ATR)Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti pitched the city's 2024 Olympic bid to an audience of 40 L.A. County mayors on Wednesday.

The city leaders were gathered for a conference in Santa Clarita when Garcetti brought up the 1984 L.A. Olympics.

"Who was here in 1984?" he asked. A local Santa Clarita media outlet reported that most of those in attendance raised their hands.

"Who went to the Olympics in 1984?" Garcetti added. Almost all of the hands stayed up, the Santa Clarita Valley Signal said.

"Today, people remember that," Garcetti said. "I half-jokingly say I'm only pursuing the Olympics to try to get rid of traffic for two weeks."

The mayor attempted to calm the nerves of those worried about the Olympics coming to an already-traffic-jammed Los Angeles. Garcetti said the city's experience hosting major events like the 1984 Games solidifies that it can be done without turning the streets of L.A. into parking lots.

Following a closer look at the "hard dollars and cents," Garcetti added, and considering the sports infrastructure available in and around L.A., "we said this was a bid we could win and a bid that we could make money off of."

An op-ed from Wednesday's edition of the Los Angeles Times takes on another part of Garcetti's pitch for the Olympic Games.

L.A. Times reporter Mariel Garza says the mayor's opening statement in the L.A. 2024 bid book highlights the "new Los Angeles."

Garcetti says, "We are a different city everywhere you look: new neighborhoods, a new transit system, all new airport terminals, a revitalized river, and new stadiums and arenas. We are investing in the future with the biggest public works project in the country."

Garza says that the new L.A., in this case, seems to refer to "all the things the city had or didn't have the last time the Olympic Games came to town more than 30 years ago: a massive rail and subway system, a revitalized Hollywood, a bustling downtown with actual tourist attractions and a park, new sports complexes and an appreciation for the long-abused and neglected river that runs through it all."

Public supports is another advantage for L.A. 2024, the mayor said during the conference on Wednesday.

City and county leaders have signaled their support for the bid and polls show residents are in favor of another L.A. Olympics."I think that there is a real energy and excitement about bringing the Olympics back," Garcetti said.

"Partly because we have it in our DNA, we have it in our blood."

Other cities in the running for the 2024 Games include Budapest, Hamburg, Paris, and Rome.The IOC votes on the host city at the 2017 Session in Lima, Peru.

Boston hosts event for Road to Rio Tour

Boston may have rejected being the U.S. bid for the 2024 Olympics but the city will play host this weekend to the next stop for the U.S. Olympic CommitteeRoad to Rio.

Olympians will take part in events to drum up support and enthusiasm for Team USA as the 2016 Summer Games in Rio draw closer.

USOC communications chief Patrick Sandusky told the AP that the stop was planned before the committee dropped Boston in July as the U.S. bid for the 2024 Olympics.

The list of Olympians traveling to Boston this weekend includes Olympic rower Caryn Davies, U.S. gymnastics champion Nastia Liukin,11-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte,and track and field star Lolo Jones.

Boston is the third venue on the Road to Rio Tour following earlier visits to Philadelphia and San Diego. Six stops are scheduled for next year, including the final one in Los Angeles in August.

Sandusky told the AP that Boston was selected in part because it is a "great sports city" with a long history of producing and backing Olympians.

"This isn't about bidding for the Olympics but supporting Team USA," he said, adding that the USOC enjoyed a strong working relationship with Boston leaders though "ultimately it didn't work out."

Written byNicole Bennett

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