(ATR) Los Angeles 2024 added senior leadership to its team on Thursday with the appointment of Gene Sykes as the chief executive officer of the bid.
"What an honor and lifelong dream it is to work with our great city in its new Olympic quest," Sykes said at the press conference announcing his involvement.
Sykes is a financial executive who served as co-chairman of two of investment banking firm Goldman Sachs' leading divisions. He is a native of Los Angeles who says the Games in 1984 left a lasting impact on his life and fueled his Olympic interests.
"Our city has progressed and involved in so many meaningful ways and we can thank the legacy of the 1984 Games for some of that progress."
Bid leader Casey Wasserman says the bid committee will lean on Sykes’ business experience to run the day-to-day operations of the bid, a job Sykes will do without receiving compensation.
"I’m fortunate that I’ve had a career and gotten to a point in my life where I can afford to do things where I don’t need to be paid," said Sykes.
His duties as the day-to-day manager of the bid will cause him to remain with the Goldman Sachs in an "extremely limited" fashion. Sykes tells Around the Rings he will stay on with the company providing advice and answering questions his colleagues may have but will devote his efforts to the Olympic bid.
Sykes says the biggest challenge for the bid is the competition from four other cities he calls world-class. The IOC will choose between Los Angeles, Budapest, Hamburg, Paris and Rome as the host of the 2024 Games at the 2017 IOC Session in Lima, Peru.
"Our bid has got to be a first-rate bid and everyone who understands what’s in it needs to be impressed with the quality of it," says Sykes.
He says he is excited for the opportunity to help bring the Summer Games back to the United States for the first time since 1996.
"It’s our honor to help create a new Olympic legacy for this city, one that will benefit our city and region for years to come."
Written by KevinNutley
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