No Surprises from Los Angeles Says IOC

(ATR) The Los Angeles 2024 Olympic bid is sticking to its motto of "no risks, no surprises" as the International Olympic Committee begins its evaluation of the city.

The evaluation commission chaired by IOC member and FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann met at length with the LA 2024 bid team on the first day of a restructured process that offers daily insights into the work done by the commission.

For the first time, Baumann and IOC executive director Christophe Dubi held a press conference at the end of day one and are supposed to follow with a briefing after the Thursday program.

In the past, the IOC has waited until the end of the bid city visit to take questions from the press.

"Overall it was a productive, relaxed and open, frank discussion with no surprises," Baumann said in the press lounge at Staples Center in downtown LA.

"It is clear that the Mayor [Eric Garcetti] and the entire Los Angeles 2024 team are determined to ensure that the games will leave a great legacy for the city and this region."

The commission is missing two membersdue to sickness, Gunilla Lindberg of Sweden and Tsunekazu Takeda of Japan.

"It is unlikely at this stage they will be able to join [in Paris] although I want to reassure everyone they are doing well and recovering... but by the time they are fully recovered we will already be gone from Paris," Baumann tells ATR.

"That's not really going to affect our work; we have a number of members who share a wealth of experience in International Olympic Committee matters and organizing committee matters so we are extremely well equipped."

Dubi said discussions Wednesday included presentations on security and transportation.The Los Angeles Police chief and deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security were among those who appeared as experts before the IOC panel.

Mayor Garcetti and LA 2024 chairman Casey Wasserman then held a separate press conference on the free throw line of the Staples Center, home to the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers of the National Basketball Association.

Garcetti and Wasserman provided more detail about the day’s discussions before taking a variety of questions ranging from the jokes told that day to the bid support received from citizens and President Donald Trump.

When asked whether discussions were held on the possibility of the IOC awarding both the 2024 and 2028 Games this September, LA 2024 and the IOC both reiterated they are solely focused on the 2024 race at this time.

However, Wasserman noted that he "applauds the IOC’s thinking" to consider changing the bidding process.

Wednesday night the IOC was hosted for dinner at the home of Wasserman.

Thursday the IOC commission embarks on a long tour of venues that begins at Staples Center where Olympic basketball and Paralympic wheelchair basketball will be hosted. The IOC is supposed to visit each of the venues in the LA bid plan.

On Wednesday while the IOC was being briefed behind closed doors by LA 2024, media members toured the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, the planned Long Beach Sports Park and the South Bay Sports Park.

The sports park concept is a central tenant to the LA bid that features four separate parks each containing venues to host Olympic and Paralympic sports.

Each of the venues displayed the LA 2024 logo, slogan and name across ivideo boards with the Rose Bowl also sporting a massive logo as the center circle. The heavy reliance on pre-existing venues and glimpse of overlay potential allows the bid to give media and IOC members a real sense of what the Games could look like in 2024.

On Thursday, media and the IOC will tour the planned media village and main press center at the University of Southern California and the Olympic Village at the University of California at Los Angeles.

The venue tour will end at Santa Monica Beach where beach volleyball would be held.

The commission visit will close on May 12 with a closing press conference.

The commission moves on to Paris May 12 from Los Angeles. The Paris 2024 evaluation commission visit will take place from May 14-16.

Reported and written by Kevin Nutley in Los Angeles.

Forgeneral comments or questions, click here.

25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about theOlympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribersonly.