Things are moving quickly in the Olympic world. Too much, sometimes. The IOC has not yet made its choice, between Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo, for the host city of the 2020 Games. But, already, names are circulating for the organization of the following ones, scheduled for 2024. And, while the race has not officially started, it is said here and there that victory will not escape the United States.

Premature? Without a doubt. But one thing is certain: the prospect of hosting the Summer Games in eleven years arouses the desire of American cities. Last spring, the American Olympic Committee (USOC) sent a letter to 35 of the largest cities in the country to survey their desires. Since then, the responses have been arriving at a good pace. The latest: Washington DC.

The capital of the United States formalized its candidacy… for candidacy on Wednesday. She did it via social networks, multiplying messages on Twitter throughout the day, gathering more than a thousand fans on Facebook in just a few hours. The Washington project has had its official website since yesterday, www.dc2024.org.

His arguments already make him a serious candidate, even one of the favorites. “Honestly, we are the only major capital in the world that has never hosted an Olympic Games,” argues DC2024 president Bob Sweeney. Washington had teamed up with its neighbor Baltimore to bid for the 2012 Games, but the USOC preferred New York.

According to Bob Sweeney, the federal capital already has numerous sports infrastructures. “We already have more, within a 100-mile radius, than any other American city,” he says. The project plans to locate the epicenter of the system in Washington itself, but relying on existing installations in Virginia and Maryland. “By building less, we will spend less,” argues Bob Sweeney. The capital will, however, have to build housing for 10.000 athletes and 15.000 journalists, in accordance with USOC directives.

The decision of the American Olympic Committee must come in September 2015, two years before the IOC vote for the city of the 2024 Summer Games. Washington could be in direct competition with New York, Los Angeles, Tampa, Philadelphia, Dallas, even San Diego or Boston. Quite a battle.