The LA 2024 Candidature Committee returns to Rio de Janeiro today ahead of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, fielding a 16-strong bid team led by Chairman Casey Wasserman, CEO Gene Sykes, Vice Chair and 12-time Paralympic medalist Candace Cable and IOC Executive Board Member and LA 2024 Senior Advisor for Legacy Anita DeFrantz. Following LA 2024’s valuable learning experience at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the bid team returns to "la Cidade Maravilhosa" determined to gain a greater understanding of how best the United States and Los Angeles can serve the needs and priorities of the Paralympic Movement.
Wasserman, Sykes, Cable and DeFrantz will be joined in Rio by Steve Simon, Executive Director of the City of Los Angeles Department on Disability, and Clayton Frech, CEO and President of Angel City Sports, organizers of the West coast’s largest celebration of adaptive sport, the Angel City Games. United States Olympic Committee Chairman Larry Probst and CEO Scott Blackmun will also represent the LA 2024 bid committee in Rio and will be joined by numerous LA 2024 team members.
As always, the stars of the US delegation are the 289 American Paralympians competing in what will be the largest edition of the Games yet. Five LA 2024 Athletes’ Advisory Commission members will be competing in the Games: Chuck Aoki will join the wheelchair rugby squad as they seek to improve on their London 2012 bronze medal performance; Lex Gillette and Jarryd Wallace will represent Team USA in track and field; Alana Nichols will make history as she competes in her third sport (paracanoe), having already represented Team USA in wheelchair basketball and alpine skiing; and archer Matt Stutzman will return for his second Paralympic Games following his silver medal performance at the London 2012 Games.
LA 2024 bid leaders will be meeting with Paralympic and global sport leaders as the delegation continues to refine its plan to combine Californian innovation with world-class existing venues to create a New Games for a New Era. Eight LA 2024 executives will also participate in the Rio 2016 Observer Program to learn from IPC experts and the Rio 2016 staff. These best practices will be incorporated into LA's Games proposal that offers the ultimate personalized experience for all stakeholder groups.
A key area of focus for the LA 2024 bid team will be studying how to harness the global attention of hosting the Paralympic Games to raise awareness of the opportunities, benefits and inclusiveness in Paralympic sport. United States Paralympics currently operates over 200 Paralympic Sports Clubs across the country, and LA 2024 aims to stage a 2024 Paralympic Games that would expand the adaptive sport movement’s reach further to engage millions more participants and their families, and further promote social inclusion and rights for persons with disabilities at home and around the world.
LA 2024 Chairman Casey Wasserman said: "Rio de Janeiro served as a spectacular backdrop for the 2016 Olympic Games, providing a breathtaking stage for numerous historic athletic performances. The LA 2024 team is thrilled to return to ‘la Cidade Maravilhosa’ to experience the biggest Paralympic Games ever. We are grateful to participate in the Rio 2016 Observer Program and to continue to learn how our city can best serve the Paralympians of 2024 and beyond. The insights we gather in Rio will undoubtedly inform LA 2024 moving forward as our city builds a Paralympic experience that helps the city and the world better celebrate the unity in diversity that is so essential to the Olympic and Paralympic Games."
LA 2024 CEO Gene Sykes said: "The Rio 2016 Olympic Games provided LA 2024 with many lessons, and we are already hard at work, finding ways to build on the best of Rio to create a New Games for new era. We expect the Paralympic Games to be yet another fantastic opportunity for our team to listen and learn, and we are extremely grateful to the IOC and IPC, as well as to the Cariocas for their continued, unparalleled hospitality."
LA 2024 Vice Chair and 12-time Paralympic medalist Candace Cable said: "With an estimated 4,350 participating athletes representing more than 176 countries in 528 medal events, we at LA 2024 could not be more excited to observe and participate in the historic, record-breaking Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. We are thankful for the opportunity to learn from Rio how we can best prioritize the needs of Paralympic athletes should LA be awarded the 2024 Games. And we will be drawing on all the experiences of the five LA 2024 Athletes’ Advisory Commission members competing in Rio to continue refining our offer."
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