Los Angeles has been selected as the American candidate city that will bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics after Boston pulled out of the race in July.
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during 1984 Olympics. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Los Angeles, which has hosted the Summer Games twice before in 1932 and 1984, joins a race that includes Paris, Rome, Budapest and Hamburg.
"It is my distinct honour today to formerly name the city of Los Angeles as the U.S bid city to host the 2024 Olympics," USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun told a news conference in Santa Monica.
The final obstacle facing the city was cleared earlier today when the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to pursue a bid for the 2024 Games, giving LA the chance to become the only city besides London to host the Olympics three times.
The International Olympic Committee will elect a winning bid in 2017.
The resolution adopted by the council allows for the city to negotiate a financial agreement with Olympic officials once Los Angeles is officially proposed as the American host city for the games.
Mayor Eric Garcetti is solidly behind the campaign to host the 2024 Olympics, as is most of the city's business establishment, though some council members had raised concerns that Los Angeles could be on the hook for costs that exceed revenues.
Los Angeles has found itself as the most talked-about U.S. candidate city for the 2024 Summer Olympics - Rio de Janeiro hosts next year and Tokyo in 2020 - after officials in Boston took the Massachusetts capital out of contention.
Boston's mayor said he did not want to expose municipal taxpayers to the potential tab for mammoth cost overruns the games have left other host cities.
Los Angeles represents a possibly thrifty choice, in large part because officials say most prospective event venues for the games already exist, including Memorial Coliseum, which will be 101 years old in 2024.
The city and the coliseum previously played host to the Summer Games in 1932 and 1984. London in 2012 became the only metropolis to host the games three times.
