L.A. Goes for Gold, Still in Running to Host 2024 Summer Olympics

Los Angeles' effort to host the 2024 Summer Olympics moved forward Friday, with the U.S. Olympic Committee naming the city as one of four finalists to be the nation's bidder for the Games.

Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Washington, D.C., landed spots on the USOC's "short list" of potential bidders for the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The four cities "have each given us reason to believe they can deliver a compelling and successful bid, and we look forward to continuing to explore the possibilities as we consider 2024," said USOC CEO Scott Blackmun.

The USOC's board of directors met earlier this week near Boston.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti cheered the announcement.

"Los Angeles is the ideal Olympic city, with endless diversity, attractions and scenic beauty," he said. "I look forward to working with the USOC to ensure we present the strongest possible bid for our nation."

If Los Angeles is chosen to make the U.S. bid, and is ultimately chosen as host, it would become the first American city to stage the Games three times and tie it with London as the only worldwide city to do so. Los Angeles hosted the Summer Olympics in 1932 and 1984.

If a U.S. city is selected for the 2024 Olympics, it would be the first time since the 1996 Atlanta Games that the Summer Olympics have been held in this country. The 2002 Winter Games were held in Salt Lake City.

The cost of hosting an Olympic Games could exceed $3 billion, Blackmun said last year when the organization sent out feelers to mayors of 35 U.S. cities considered potential hosts.

Host cities are required to provide at least 45,000 hotel rooms, an Olympic Village with rooms for 16,500 people and a 5,000-person capacity dining area, space for 15,000 media and broadcast representatives, an international airport able to handle thousands of international travelers per day, public transportation to venues and roadway closures.

In 2011, the USOC declined to submit a city for the 2020 games, despite interest from several cities including Los Angeles, New York and Las Vegas. It cited an inability to agree on revenue-sharing terms with the International Olympic Committee.

— City News Service