IOC ‘confident’ on U.S. 2024 bid despite Boston pullout
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The International Olympic Committee said Tuesday it remains confident the United States will deliver a bid to host the 2024 Summer Games despite Boston’s withdrawal a day earlier.
The U.S. Olympic Committee on Monday rescinded Boston’s bid to host the 2024 Games after the mayor said his city’s taxpayers could not afford to host the large-scale event.
The news is the latest setback for the Olympic bidding process and comes after four cities dropped out of the running for the 2022 Winter Games.
Global metropolis Beijing will go head-to-head with the little-known Kazakh city of Almaty for the right to host the 2022 Olympics when the IOC elects the winner at its session in Malaysia this week.
The IOC has since passed a string of reforms to make bidding more attractive to cities.
“USOC have made it clear that they would still very much like to see a U.S. city host the Olympic Games 2024,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said.
“We are still in the Invitation Phase and this is exactly what this phase is for, to allow National Olympic Committees and cities to explore a possible bid.”
The deadline for host bid submissions for the 2024 Games is Sept. 15 with Hamburg, Paris, Rome and Budapest already having entered the race.
“We are confident that the U.S. will make the right choice and that they can still put forward a strong candidate by 15 September.”
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has said his city, which hosted one of the most successful Games in U.S. history in 1984, was interested in taking Boston’s place. The United States last hosted the Summer Games in Atlanta in 1996.
The IOC will elect a winning bid in 2017.
