Boston bids to host the Olympic Games
January 9, 2015
The US Olympic Committee (USOC) has thrown in its lot with Boston, eschewing offers from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, in hopes that a frugal, compact bid will convince international voters to bring the Summer Games to the United States after a 28-year gap.
"We're excited about our plans to submit a bid for the 2024 Games and feel we have an incredibly strong partner in Boston," USOC chair Larry Probst told reporters after the committee met in Denver on Thursday to make the decision.
The choice surprised insiders, who saw Los Angeles as the most logical choice and San Francisco as the most interesting. But Boston's offer of a cost-conscious Games, with several old venues available for use won out.
Universities are footing part of the bill for new structures that would revert to their care after the Olympics. Boston also pointed to its many universities as potential housing for athletes, thereby reducing costs even further.
Boston joins Italy's capital Rome as the only other city that has officially decided to bid, though Germany has confirmed that either Hamburg or Berlin will also be put forward as a candidate. France and Hungary are also mulling potential bids.
The US gives it another go despite recent failures
The United States has tried twice in recent years to host the Summer Games, with only fourth-place finishes for New York (2012) and Chicago (2016).
Just as the Boston 2024 committee was holding a celebratory press conference, the protest group No Boston Olympics was demonstrating outside the USOC's Denver conference. "An Olympics…threatens to divert resources and attention away" from the city's real problems, a statement from the group said.
The US has won the most medals at the last five Summer Olympics and is home to some of the event's richest sponsors, but not since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics has a US city hosted the Summer Games.
Next year's Games will be in Rio de Janeiro, and the 2020 Summer Olympics are being hosted by Tokyo.
es/jm (AP, AFP)