The Americans have long lost their way, in the race for the Summer Games in 2024. But, since the decision of their national Olympic committee, the USOC, to play the Los Angeles card, they are rushing headlong. Tuesday, September 1, the mayor of the Californian city, Eric Garcetti, officially announced that LA was applying for the Summer Olympics. The next day, he headed to Lausanne, accompanied by Casey Wasserman, the president of Los Angeles 2024, Larry Probst, the head of the USOC, and Scott Blackmun, its executive director, to visit the IOC. A one-hour visit held this Thursday morning at the headquarters of the Olympic institution. The American delegation concluded it, before taking the return plane, by answering questions from some media. Excerpts.
FrancsJeux: Why did you decide to go so quickly to Lausanne, to the IOC headquarters, the very day after the announcement of the Los Angeles candidacy?
Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles: It was very important for us to show the IOC our enthusiasm for Los Angeles' bid for the 2024 Games. Over the past two weeks, we have had to focus on issues concerning Los Angeles and the United States. Now we have to meet the people from the IOC. Ultimately, an Olympic bid remains a matter of personal relationships. We could have communicated with the IOC by telephone, but we preferred to do it face to face.
How did this visit to the IOC go?
Eric Garcetti: Perfectly well. We first had a half-hour interview with Thomas Bach, privately, in his office. Then we joined a larger room, for a meeting of around thirty minutes with Gilles de Kepper (the director general of the IOC), Christophe Dubi (the director of the Olympic Games), and Jacqueline Barrett (responsible for relations with the cities candidates). Thomas Bach thanked us all for submitting an American application.
Was this first visit to the IOC an opportunity to already address very specific questions about the Los Angeles project?
Larry Probst, USOC President: No. The discussion remained very general.
The question of the cost of the Games has been an obstacle for some of the previous American bids, notably New York 2012 and Chicago 2016. Is it still a problem?
Eric Garcetti: Los Angeles' bid for the 2024 Games will stand out from past American projects. On the question of costs, we have already worked a lot last year, when we were preparing our file to be chosen by the USOC. In our project, 85% of the competition venues already exist or will be built in all cases. In Los Angeles, the Olympic Games are our DNA, we have Olympism in our blood. In 1984, the Olympics left a profit of 200 million dollars which benefited the inhabitants. For 2024, we aim to leave the city with a comparable legacy.
What will be the budget for the application?
Eric Garcetti: We are starting with a budget of 35 million dollars.
How do you plan to convince the IOC members that Los Angeles is the best option for the Games, when you first offered them Boston as the first choice for the United States?
Scott Blackmun, Executive Director of the USOC: We didn’t take the straightest route, that’s for sure. But today we are proposing to the IOC a very exciting project, a new file. Los Angeles can host cost-controlled Games, Games that respect the environment and leave a legacy. When the time comes for IOC members to compare Los Angeles with the other candidate cities, the Boston episode will have been forgotten.
Los Angeles is known for its passion for sports, but also for its celebrities. Are you considering involving any of them in your candidacy campaign?
Eric Garcetti: Of course. A large number of great sports figures reside in Los Angeles. We will involve them in our campaign. Janet Evans will be there, Earvin “Magic” Johnson too. In Los Angeles, the Games will not only be the most sustainable, they will also be the sexiest.
