Olympic Committee in LA to visit sport venues ahead of 2024 bid
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (FOX 11 / CNS) - An International Olympic Committee Evaluation Commission is in Los Angeles today for three days of talks and visits to sport venues as part of the process of selecting between the City of Angels and the City of Lights as host of the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Los Angeles is competing with Paris to host the games, and the commission plans to spend three days in the French capital beginning Sunday.
According to the IOC, the panel will spend the first working day in each city taking part in "detailed discussions" about the bids, followed by visits to various event venues on the second day and "wrap-up discussions" on
the final day.
"We will discuss not only how hosting the games would meet the needs of athletes, but also how it would serve the cities' long-term goals for social and economic development," said Patrick Baumann, chairman of the IOC
Evaluation Commission.
The commission will issue a report on July 5. The host cities will be able to make a formal presentation to IOC members during meetings July 11-12 in Lausanne, Switzerland. The IOC will make a selection Sept. 13 during a meeting in Lima, Peru.
Los Angeles previously hosted the Summer Olympics in 1984 and 1932. Now, together with the LA 2024 committee spearheading the effort to secure the 2024 Olympics, the city is carrying out a colorful and elaborate effort to win over the Evaluation Commission.
The visitors -- a delegation of about 14 led by Bauman of Switzerland -- arrived at the weekend, according to LA 2024. Emphasizing Southern California's ability to orchestrate colorful events, several landmark venues were lit up last night "in the colors of L.A.'s iconic sunsets and the LA 2024 Angel logo," as an LA 2024 statement described it.
The illuminated venues included the Disney, NBCUniversal and Warner. Bros. studios, the U.S. Bank Tower, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Grand Park fountain, the Hollywood Bowl marquee, Griffith Observatory, the Greek Theater, the Dolby Theater, LAX, the Capital Records building, the Santa Monica ferris wheel, the Aquarium of the Pacific, the interior of the Hammer Museum and, for the first time, the Wilshire Grand, the tallest building on the West Coast.
"The support of these Hollywood studios and L.A.'s cultural icons underlines what a spectacular setting Los Angeles would be for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024," said LA 2024 CEO Gene Sykes.
LA 2024 and the visitors will hold a daylong meeting today, and the IOC members will tour potential sites for the Games on Thursday, LA 2024 said.
It said the Evaluation Commission members also would be given a "comprehensive tour" of the facilities on the UCLA campus that Los Angeles officials plan to use as the Olympic and Paralympic Village, where the athletes will be housed.
"With no new permanent venues required to host the Games, the venue tour will give the IOC Evaluation Commission the clearest, most accurate picture possible of LA 2024's low-risk and truly sustainable Games Plan," said the LA 2024 statement.
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