The International Olympic Committee Evaluation Commission concluded in a report released this week that Los Angeles’ plan for the 2024 Summer Games is in line with reforms the committee has been striving for over the last several years.
The Olympic Agenda 2020, which was approved in 2014, is aimed at fighting corruption while improving transparency and good governance.
“LA 2024 has fully embraced the philosophy of Olympic Agenda 2020 … With so many world-class sports facilities at its disposal, the Los Angeles venue inventory exceeds the Games’ needs,” the IOC Evaluation Commission report says.
The report also praises the plan of LA 2024—the nonprofit committee leading the city’s bid— for not building any new permanent structures while using the city’s existing venues or ones planned by private investors. As a result, LA 2024 has proposed a balanced budget of $5.3 billion for the Games.
“LA 2024 does not require any new permanent structures for the Games-dependenonn on venues and does not rely on public funding for any venue construction,” the report states . . . Overall, the OCOG [Organizing Committee] budget is feasible and the financial risk is low for this stage of planning and budget development.”
The IOC Evaluation Commission compiled its report following two days of briefings and site visits in Los Angeles in May.
L.A. is competing with Paris to host the 2024 Summer Games, although the IOC’s executive board recently announced its preference to award both the ‘24 and ‘28 Games at the same time in September. It is widely expected that Paris will receive the ‘24 Games, and LA 2024 officials have indicated they would be happy to accept the ‘28 Games.
Paris officials have driven a harder line for the ‘24 Games and said the site it has earmarked for its Olympic village will not be available for redevelopment after 2024.
“It matters,” LA 2024 Chairman Casey Wasserman said during a conference call with reporters when asked how much the report matters given the expectation that Los Angeles is already a lock to host the ‘28 Games.
“We take great pride in our work. We take great pride in our city, and we take great pride in our passion to host the Olympic Games, and I think this report is a great nod in the direction of all those,” Wasserman said. `T his is about the 2024 Evaluation Commission’s report, and we can talk about other things, if and when they happen.”
The report also praises the facilities at UCLA, which would be the location of the Olympic village, and says the campus “would be outstanding inall aspects and very low risk from an operational standpoint.”
The full IOC is meeting in Lausanne next week and will have to ratify the executive board’s unanimous vote to award the ‘24 and ‘28 Games simultaneously. The host cities would then be chosen in September at a meeting in Lima, Peru.
“All of us at LA 2024 will go into the candidate city briefing in Lausanne full of confidence after the Evaluation Commission’s endorsement of our Games plan,” LA 2024 CEO Gene Sykes said in a statement. “Under Olympic Agenda 2020, the candidature process has become a collaborative dialogue,
including an open and productive discussion during the Evaluation Commission’svisit, which has helped us plan Games that are right for our city and the IOC.”
