Los Angeles Tipped as Next U.S. Olympic Bid City -- On the Scene

(ATR) Los Angeles may be the USA’s best chance of winning the 2024 Olympics following Boston’s demise, according to two IOC Executive Board members.

The U.S. Olympic Committee is seeking a replacement for Boston following the collapse of the bid Monday, with the IOC’s Sept. 15 deadine looming to submit a city for the 2024 Olympics.

Speaking to reporters in Kuala Lumpur, Sergey Bubka said a bid from the U.S. was "important for sport and important for the movement".

The USOC is expected to relaunch negotiations with the cities who were originally vying for selection with Boston – and may not rule out talks with other cities. Of the three beaten out by Boston, Los Angeles is regarded as the frontrunner ahead of San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Bubka and IOC EB member C.K. Wu both suggested the 1984 Olympic host was well-equipped to become the USOC’s new candidate city for the 2024 Games.

"This is decision of USOC, but Los Angeles has a great history and a lot of experience so why not, but of course we respect your decision," Bubka said.

Wu said the IOC was waiting for the USOC’s decision but hoped they would come forward with a new bid.

"They have been absent since 2002... maybe they can seriously think," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

After the embarrassment of dropping Boston, Wu said it was now vital the USOC secured strong public support for the Olympics in their chosen city before entering any fresh candidate into the 2024 race.

Asked if Los Angeles would be a good pick by the USOC, he said: "For me yes, Los Angeles will have the very good memory of 1984. I think that it is easy for them."

He acknowledged that LA had "good experience" and the facilities to provide the foundation for a solid Olympic bid.

Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi told ATR that he would likely address Boston 2024’s demise in his report to the IOC Executive Board on the 2024 bidding strategy.

President Thomas Bach and senior IOC member Anita Defrantz declined to issue comment to ATR about Boston’s withdrawal from the 2024 Olympic contest. The IOC president’s press conference on Wednesday is likely to be dominated by the issue.

But the IOC did issue a statement."USOC have made it clear that they would still very much like to see a US city host the Olympic Games 2024," said director of communications Mark Adams.

"We are still in the invitation phase and this is exactly what this phase is for, to allow NOCs and cities to explore a possible bid."

He added: "We are confident that the U.S. will make the right choice and that they can still put forward a strong candidate by 15 September."

U.S. Reaction

Steve Penny, president and CEO of USA Gymnastics, sees a silver lining in the Boston false start. "The good news is one of the great things about the U.S. is we have any number of cities that can host the Olympic Games," he told ATR.

"It’s unfortunate that this didn’t work out the way people wanted it to. There was a lot of good faith and best intentions involved in how they got to decide on Boston.

"Better to deal with it now and move on and still have a decent shot at putting a city forward."

Penny said the social media comments coming out of Los Angeles, which is currently hosting the Special Olympics, already show the desire is still there to host the Games.

"Absolutely, we stay in the mix," he said. "There’s so much money available to make this work. Look at LA and Washington D.C. The infrastructure is there. You’re not building roadways, the airports are good. You’re talking about cities that can handle this – especially a city that wants it."

Lisa Delpy Neirotti, a Games scholar and sports management and tourism expert at The George Washington University School of Business, said the USOC made the right decision because "all these negative headlines about Boston were killing the opportunity".

She told ATR the USOC should have acted sooner. "How we handle it going forward is important. We say we have many great cities in the United States, who are very anxious to host the Games. Make it positive and move on," she said.

Neirotti sees plenty of time to make a fresh start with another city before the Sept. 15 deadline to submit a bid to the IOC. "It would behoove the U.S. to stay in the race. I think they have momentum. A lot of people want to come to the United States."

Although she said Paris is the frontrunner, even a losing bid "would position us even further for the next time. We’re just going to build friendships along the way. We all know it’s about sustaining bids and building relationships."

While Los Angeles may be considered the favorite to take over as the U.S. bid city, she said don’t forget about Washington. "The spirit is still alive and well in Washington D.C. We’re working hard on the ANOC meetings [in late October]."

Reported by Mark Bisson and Karen Rosen

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