(ATR) Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian tells Around the Rings the city has the infrastructure and venues capable of hosting the Olympic Games today.
"I think we’re ready to go right now. Los Angeles is the greatest Olympic city in the world. Not only do we have all the physical capacity to handle the Olympics, we have incomparable weather and a diverse population," Krekorian tells ATR.
"I don’t see the need to do a lot of improvement in the city to accommodate the Olympics. We’re doing it already," Krekorian continued.
ATR sat down with the councilman following the official launch of the Los Angeles 2024 bid on Tuesday. Krekorian supported the joinder agreement in the city council early Tuesday morning that allowed the city to officially partner with the USOC to submit a bid to host the Games.
"This was a historic moment [Tuesday] when the council took this vote. I think 20 years from now, we’ll look back at this day and say thank God the city leadership had the foresight and the vision and the optimism to imagine what we could do in hosting the 2024 Olympics," he said.
Los Angeles has hosted the Games two times in the past 100 years. In both 1932 and 1984, the city was able to turn a profit from hosting the Games, a feat rarely accomplished. The councilman attended the Games in 1984 and says the joy that overcame the city was what impressed him the most.
"Even if you didn’t attend an event, you had this sense of a positive atmosphere around the city. There was a sense of positive air and excitement about the Olympics, pride in our city. It was really one of the best times we’ve had in Los Angeles," he says.
Krekorian believes the legacy of the 2024 Olympics in Los Angeles can exceed that of the previous two Games hosted in the city.
"If we can match our successes in managing the implementation of the Olympics and managing the financing, the legacy of the 2024 Games will be a magnificent one that will benefit the city for many generations," he tells ATR.
He says one of the strongest characteristics of the city that would make it a great fit for the Games is the amount of diversity in the city.
"There’s no athlete anywhere in the world who could come to Los Angeles and not find a countryman already living here. That’s a huge thing because every athlete will feel welcome here. No other city can claim that," Krekorian says.
Los Angeles now joins Paris, Rome, Budapest and Hungary in the race to host the 2024 Games. Krekorian says these other cities should be worried about their new competition.
"The other cities competing for these Olympics need to be concerned about Los Angeles because I think we are going to win," Krekorian proclaimed.
Written by Kevin Nutleyin Los Angeles
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