USA primed for 2024 Olympic bid

Atlanta was the host city when the United States last staged the Olympics in 1996. Picture: Getty

The US Olympic Committee will make a decision next week on whether to bid and may even select a city to put forward, making a choice among Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington. “We’re not in it to come in fourth, third or second,” USOC chairman Larry Probst said yesterday, setting the stage for a contest that could also include Paris, Rome, Berlin or Hamburg and other cities.

The 2024 campaign is ready to move forward after the International Olympic Committee approved a raft of changes that include a revised process designed to make bidding less expensive and more attractive to potential candidates.

The new system includes an “invitation phase” where interested countries and cities discuss their plans with the IOC in advance of bidding to tailor the project to their own needs and conditions.

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“I don’t think it has much of an impact on our process,” Probst said. “I don’t think any of these reforms have a significant impact on bidding or not bidding.”

IOC president Thomas Bach said yesterday the invitation phase will begin on 15 January, eight months before the 15 September deadline for declaration of bids.

Bach said the IOC will contact all national Olympic committees interested in bidding. Meetings will be arranged in Lausanne, Switzerland, or in the potential bid cities. “It’s not an evaluation,” Bach said. “It will be up to these potential candidate cities to raise the topics they think are worthwhile. Our delegation will listen and give them any advice.”

Bach again ruled out reopening the bidding for the 2022 Winter Games. Scared off by high costs and other factors, several cities pulled out, leaving only Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan, in the running.

Canadian member Dick Pound said the former candidates should be given the chance to rejoin the race under the new bidding rules. But Bach said it would be unfair to the two remaining contenders.

“It’s like a 10,000-metre race,” Bach said. “If you pull out after five laps, you can’t expect that the race will be started again.”

One thing is already certain for 2024 after the Peruvian capital of Lima beat Helsinki yesterday for the right to host the IOC session in 2017 where the vote will be held.

Germany has already announced it will be bidding, with a choice between Berlin and Hamburg to be made in March. Italy is expected to announce a Rome bid on Monday. France is likely to approve a Paris bid next month.

Other potential contenders include Doha, Qatar; Istanbul, Turkey; Baku, Azerbaijan; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Budapest, Hungary; and a city or region in South Africa.

The United States hasn’t hosted the Summer Games since 1996 in Atlanta. New York made a failed bid for the 2012 Olympics, and Chicago missed out for 2016.

“That’s 28 years,” Probst said. “That’s more than a generation. That’s a long time to not have the games in the United States.”

Los Angeles is seeking to host the Olympics for a third time after staging the games in 1932 and 1984. “I think some people think it’s a pro, some people feel it’s a con,” Probst said. “They’ve got facilities in place, they’ve done it before, but you hear some members say, ‘Been there, done that,’ so that’s one of the things we have to consider.”

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