With Boston Out, LA Back In Running For 2024 Olympics

LOS ANGELES (CNS/FOX 11) - Mayor Eric Garcetti said Monday he would like another chance at becoming the U.S. Olympic Committee's bidder to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, following news that Boston has been dropped as the bid city.

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While his office has not spoken to members the USOC, "I continue to believe that Los Angeles is the ideal Olympic city and we have always supported the USOC in their effort to return the Games to the United States,'' Garcetti said.

"I would be happy to engage in discussions with the USOC about how to present the strongest and most fiscally responsible bid on behalf of our city and nation,'' he said.

Garcetti's statements immediately followed East Coast media reports, initially by the Associated Press, that the USOC has withdrawn its plans to submit Boston is a potential city to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said a news conference that he would not sign a host city contract "that puts one dollar of taxpayer money on the line for one penny of
overruns on the Olympics.''

Before the USOC in January chose Boston as the United States' bid city, Los Angeles was one of four finalists. San Francisco and Washington, D.C., were the other finalists.

The finalists were selected after a 16-month process that began with the USOC reaching out to about 35 U.S. cities to gauge interest in a bid.

All potential bids for the 2024 Summer Olympics must be submitted by Sept. 15 to the International Olympic Committee, which will select the host city for both the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2017.

Potential foreign bidders include Rome; Nairobi, Kenya; Casablanca, Morocco; Johannesburg and Durban, South Africa; Doha, Qatar; Melbourne, Australia; Paris; Hamburg, Germany; and St. Petersburg, Russia.

The United States did not make a bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were awarded to Tokyo in 2013. Los Angeles sought to be the U.S. candidate to host the 2016 Games but was beaten by Chicago, whose bid was ultimately rejected by the International Olympic Committee in favor of Rio de Janeiro.

Los Angeles was looking to join London as the only cities to host the Summer Olympics three times. Los Angeles was the site of the 1932 and 1984 Games.

The Summer Olympics were last held in the United States in 1996, when Atlanta was the site.

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