It seems pretty apparent that the U.S. is going to submit a bid to host the 2024 Olympics. The USOC won't officially decide on a bid until next month, but it's fairly obvious that's going to happen. We've already heard some of the international competitors that the American bid will likely go up against, and it's a good-looking list that includes Paris, Rome, Istanbul (probably), a South African city, and maybe Doha. Now it's just a matter of which American city will join them.
There are four finalists for the bid--Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington. They're all 100 percent confident that they're going to be the choice, but I think it's a 50-50 proposition between the two California cities. My choice would be San Francisco, which I think has the best chance internationally, while LA is viewed by many as a slight favorite. However, choosing LA would be a mistake.
LA is looking to become a three-time Olympic host. London, of course, was the first city to have that honor two years ago. With a second trip to Tokyo already coming up, does the IOC really want to go to another city for a third time? Especially if South Africa does bid. With Rio hosting in 2016, Africa will become the only continent to have never hosted the Olympics. That's a well-known fact that the IOC would like to amend. Do you really turn down your opportunity to go to Africa so that you can go to LA for a third time?
Assuming that the answer to that question is "Yes," let's bring it back home for a second. The Olympics aren't in the U.S. very often. At the very least, we'll go 28 years between the Atlanta Games and wherever the 2024 Olympics are. The U.S. hasn't even hosted the Winter Olympics since Salt Lake 2002. And Canadian cities have to be thrown in the mix here, as well, because the two North American countries are almost considered as one when it comes to Olympic bidding.
They won't have an Olympics in the U.S. immediately after an Olympics in Canada and vice versa. So, should Toronto bid (which seems imminent, especially if the Pan Am Games go well) and win, that affects the timeline for everyone else. Ditto if the U.S. wins. That pushes Toronto (as well as all other American cities) back at least 12 more years.
What I'm saying here is that Toronto needs to be included in the mix with all of the American cities that are capable of hosting the Olympics. That list also includes the three other finalists for the U.S. bid, as well as New York and Chicago, the last two American bids, and maybe somewhere like Dallas or Philadelphia, too. What do all of those cities have in common? They've never hosted the Olympics. That's the biggest reason why I'm anti-LA. All of these cities deserve the chance to host the Olympics one time before LA does for a third.
Of course, LA is credited with saving the Olympic movement in 1984. The 2024 Games will be the 40th anniversary of those Games, which would provide a nice symmetry. However, the Olympics are much different now than they were 30 years ago. A lot of the things LA did in 1984 (utilizing existing venues, having events in the surrounding area instead of just within the city limits) became the template for future host cities.
The LA metropolitan area is huge, though. That'll provide an incredible challenge from a security perspective. Especially if they plan on doing something similar to 1984 and using venues all across Southern California. The Olympics are also a lot bigger now. There are more than 200 countries, more than 300 events and more than 10,000 athletes. Thanks to the Soviet boycott, the 1984 Olympics were nearly half that size. I'm not saying LA wouldn't be able to handle the larger scope, or the attached cost. Quite the opposite. They've got money coming out the wazoo in Hollywood. But they're not the only ones financially capable of taking on that burden, either.
After the non-race for the 2022 Winter Games, it looks like the bidding for the 2024 Summer Olympics is going to be very intense. It'll be 10 years since any Olympics in Europe and 12 years since Europe hosted a Summer Games. The IOC also badly wants to go to Africa, which makes the South African bid intriguing. Same thing with the U.S. Especially after what happened with New York and Chicago. The relationship between the USOC and IOC has been mended, though, and now that it has, an Olympics in the U.S. seems likely.
Regardless of which city is put up, I'm not sure the U.S. wins the bid to host in 2024. But whether its 2024, 2028, 2032 or whenever, the Olympics are returning to the U.S. sooner rather than later. And when they do, my stance on where won't change. It shouldn't be Los Angeles. There are plenty of other American cities that deserve the chance.
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