(ATR) The United States Olympic Committee will look for a new city to host the 2024 Olympic Games.
In a joint statement from the USOC and Boston 2024 released on July 27, the two groups said the time was right to withdraw the bid from the Massachusetts city so that there was time for a new bid to be pursued. The USOC must submit a letter of intent to the IOC before Sept. 15 in order to bid for the 2024 Olympics.
"The USOC would very much like to see an American city host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024," Scott Blackmun, chief executive of the USOC, said in the statement.
"When we made the decision to bid for the 2024 Olympic Games, one of the guiding principles that we adopted was that we would only submit a bid that we believed could win.
"Boston 2024 has expressed confidence that, with more time, they could generate the public support necessary to win the bid and deliver a great Games. They also recognize, however, that we are out of time if the USOC is going to be able to consider a bid from another city. As a result, we have reached a mutual agreement to withdraw Boston’s bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games."
With the race to host the 2024 Games now open, the cities Boston beat out to secure the nomination - Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., among others - could re-enter the picture. Los Angeles, the host of the 1932 and 1984 Olympics, is seen as the front runner to relaunch a 2024 Olympic bid.
IOC vice president John Coates, in Kuala Lumpur for the 2015 IOC Session, told Around the Ringshe "hopes that there is an American bid." USOC chairman Larry Probst, and board members Anita DeFrantz and Angela Ruggiero will now travel to Kuala Lumpur to explain the situation to fellow IOC members.
"As we reflected on the timing and the status of our bid in this international competition, we have jointly come to the conclusion that the extensive efforts required in Boston at this stage of the bid process would detract from the U.S.’ ability to compete against strong interest from cities like Rome, Paris, Budapest and Hamburg," Steve Pagliuca, Boston 2024 chairman, said in a statement.
"Hosting the Games in the world’s best city for sports also presented an economic development opportunity greater than any of us have seen here in decades. Although we had hoped for a different outcome, we know that Boston will still benefit from the bidding process."
Support for the Boston bid had been languishing around 40 percent for the past few months, and the last time support for the bid topped 50 percent was after the initial announcement in January.
The bid was dealt a final death blow earlier in the day when Boston Mayor Marty Walsh held a press conference saying he would not sign the IOC host city contract without language protecting Massachusetts taxpayers.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker still had not registered official support for the bid. Baker preferred to wait for an independent report from consultant firm the Brattle Group, hired by the state, before taking a side. Without unanimous political support, the bid was unlikely to survive.
"I have never planned an Olympics before," Baker said at a press conference after the announcement.
"I don’t think any of us felt we could get this done any faster. From our point of view, the time frame we established in the beginning didn’t change."
Opposition movement group No Boston Olympics, who participated in the televised Olympic debate, called the decision to drop the bid one that leaves the city of Boston "better off."
"We are a city with an important past and a bright future, and got that way by thinking big, but also thinking smart," No Boston Olympics said in a statement.
"We need to move forward as a city, and today's decision allows us to do that on our own terms, not the terms of the USOC or the IOC. We’re better off for having passed on Boston 2024."
Written by Aaron Bauer and Karen Rosen
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