L.A. likely to land 2028 Olympics, mayor says

Earlier this month, the International Olympic Committee took the unusual step of picking Paris and Los Angeles to host the 2024 and 2028 Summer Games, but leaving it to the cities to negotiate the order.

According to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, his residents should be prepared to wait an extra four years before the Olympics return.

Speaking at a BuzzFeed event Wednesday, Garcetti said his city becoming the 2024 host “is not probably most likely to happen.” That date was viewed as the more attractive option, given the greater amount of uncertainties in planning for an event 11 years in the future, and those were the Games on which L.A. had been bidding.

The IOC was eager to lock in both cities as hosts, however, and Garcetti said the governing body is making the later date “financially so attractive, we’d be stupid not to take 2028.” Although a final IOC vote is set to take place in September, the mayor said “the bid is all but done. We have won.”

Paris last served as the site of the Olympics in 1924, so the fact that it could celebrate the 100th anniversary by hosting again gave it a strong card to play in the bidding process. The city tried on three previous rounds of bidding to win the Games.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles last hosted the Olympics in 1984 (it also hosted in 1932), and those Games were noted for their organizers’ adherence to strict cost controls. Since then, the Olympics have become associated with cost overruns and redundant facilities, and Boston dropped out of the 2024 bidding following a grassroots opposition campaign.

Tokyo is set to host the 2020 Summer Games, while the 2018 and 2022 Winter Games will be held in PyeongChang, South Korea, and Beijing, respectively.