In January, the US Olympic Committee knocked Los Angeles out of the running for the 2024 Olympics and instead chose Boston as the US contender for the games (Boston??). That was weird, but kind of understandable—Boston apparently had a whole plan for close-knit, walkable clusters of Olympic action that the USOC loved. But now that plan is getting redrawn and Olympic officials are starting to get impatient with the new plans (the New York Times says it's in part because many proposed venues in the bid "had not been vetted with some of the landlords or the public." Oops.) And that's making Los Angeles look pretty good again—maybe even good enough for the USOC to drop Boston, says Olympics-focused website 3WireSports.
Back when the USOC took their vote, Boston was not chosen in a landslide; there was, in fact, "a spirited discussion and more than one round of voting." And flash forward to a recent meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland, where officials were openly contemptuous of the Boston Bid—one official reportedly remarked "They had their opportunity. They fucked it around."—but showed some not-terrible feelings for Los Angeles.
At this point, Olympics officials seem to feel the same way many of the people of Massachusetts feel. A statewide poll showed that only 39 percent of residents were in favor of Boston hosting the Games, says the NY Times. More people (49 percent) were outright against the city hosting.
Okay, so Boston's not looking so hot, but why should Los Angeles get excited? For starters, though San Francisco and Washington, DC were also competing in the last round for the bid, neither of them was seen as a "plausible" candidate for the Olympics, 3WireSports says. And one senior IOC member straight-up proclaimed, "Los Angeles is better than Boston." (Duh.) This is what LA's bid looked like.
But just because LA is selected as the USOC's American city of choice for the 2024 Games, doesn't at all mean it'll get the Olympics. For one thing, the IOC doesn't love the idea of sending a bunch of international tourists into a country known for its mass shootings and love of guns. 3WireSports says:
One [IOC] member, reflecting on the imminent signing of a Texas law allowing the open carrying of handguns in public and of concealed handguns on state university campuses — the governor would sign it last weekend — said that measure alone ought to spell the end of the Boston bid. Or, for that matter, Los Angeles, if it came to that. · Big decision but not difficult — kill Boston 2024 [3WireSports]
· Boston Revises Bid in Effort to Host 2024 Olympics [NYT]
· Los Angeles is Out of the Running For the 2024 Olympics [Curbed LA]
· Here Are LA's Huge Plans for the 2024 Olympics [Curbed LA]
· Here's Los Angeles's Plan For Winning the 2024 Olympics [Curbed LA]
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