Los Angeles officials are expected on Monday to announce a deal with the International Olympic Committee to play host to the 2028 Summer Olympics, giving up a bid for the 2024 Games to Paris and bringing the Olympics back to the United States for the first time since 2002.
The city’s mayor, Eric Garcetti, plans to discuss the arrangement at a news conference, but city officials, speaking on condition of anonymity so as not to undercut their boss, confirmed that Los Angeles and the I.O.C. had reached the agreement.
Already, Olympic officials had paved the way for an unusual dual announcement in the fall for the 2024 and 2028 Games. Both Los Angeles and Paris were bidding for the 2024 Games, with Paris favored.
Olympic officials, however, saw an opportunity that they considered a win for all, by awarding Paris 2024 and giving Los Angeles, whose Games in 1984 are still held up as a financial and emotional success, 2028. It would also help the Olympic committee resolve its difficulty in finding host cities for the Games, which have become financial headaches for many places.
Los Angeles would have the games for the third time, after 1932 and 1984. The Summer Olympics were last in the United States in 1996, in Atlanta. Salt Lake City played host to the last games in the country, the Winter Olympics in 2002.
The I.O.C. is expected to formally announce the hosts for the games at a meeting in Lima, Peru on Sept. 13.
From the start, Los Angeles had made clear that while it preferred to have the Olympics in 2024, it would be willing to accommodate the 2028 games. But that is not without risks.
The cost and logistical estimates Los Angeles prepared in making the bid for the games – and selling the idea to local officials and voters here – were based on the event taking place in seven years. As officials here began contemplating the probability that Los Angeles would get the games in 2028, they expressed concern about the uncertainties that injected; costs in 2028 are likely to be higher than they would be in 2024.
Los Angeles’ plan depended on the sprawling system of stadiums and arenas here — some left over from the 1984 Olympics, others belonging to major sports teams and university campuses — that in theory would keep construction costs low. The estimated cost is $5.3 billion, though city officials expected it to come from private sources.
The United States Olympic Committee withdrew Boston as its official bid city in July 2015 because of intense local opposition, clearing the way for Los Angeles.
There has been minimal opposition in Los Angeles to the Olympics coming from the start – at least as compared with other cities – reflecting, in part, the successful experience in 1984. Yet there was some opposition from a late-emerging group called NOlympics LA. The group denounced the decision.
Read more at The New York Times.
