LA 2024 Presents Its “Creative and New” Bid at SportAccord Convention

Leading members of the LA 2024 bid committee presented to the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (“ASOIF”) General Assembly at the SportAccord Convention in Aarhus, Denmark, on Tuesday, stressing the L.A. bid would offer “something creative and new – not more of the same.”

Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti began the presentation by talking about the L.A. vision. Without mentioning the Paris 2024 bid, he underlined the points that distinguish Los Angeles from the French capital: Los Angeles is a young city, “not focused on the last 100 years [but] on the next 100,” and culturally diverse. He went on to stress that Los Angeles will not have to build one new permanent venue, meaning “a ‘no risk, no surprises’ budget.”

Gene Sykes, the CEO of LA 2024, spoke for the next three minutes about the Olympic Village, which will be located at UCLA in order to eliminated the risks associated with building an Olympic Village from the ground up.

Angela Ruggiero, Chief Strategy Officer, who also serves as IOC Athletes’ Commission Chair and Executive Board Member, outlined the ways in which the L.A. bid plans to involve each of the International Federations in the planning of their respective sports at the Games.

Finally, LA 2024 Chairman Casey Wasserman wrapped up the presentation. Conceding that the 24/28 concept isn’t a bad one (that is, the IOC might select either Paris or L.A. for 2024 and the other to host the 2028 Games), he reiterated many of the plan’s selling points.

ASOIF members then posed questions to the LA 2024 team. Among the more memorable responses were Garcetti’s assertions that:

• “Our vision is to have a human legacy that sports is made free and universal for all youth in Los Angeles forever.”
• “We are a sports-crazy town.”
• “Los Angeles’ bid is an international bid. A city where 39 countries have their largest population outside their home country. Where over 200 languages are spoken. I bet everyone here has a friend or relative in Los Angeles. So the advantage is: let’s celebrate sport, especially that wide vision of sports.”

Watch the presentation here:

https://youtu.be/LtEiVNcnphc