USOC CEO Scott Blackmun during his appearance at the U.S. Olympic Assembly on Thursday focused on the "second chance Los Angeles has given the USOC to land" the '24 Games, according to Eddie Pells of the AP. Blackmun, giving his "most candid public comments about the ups and downs of the tumultuous bid process," also conceded that he "owed an explanation about the Boston mess." He said, "The Boston bid failed because, from the beginning, it was not a bid supported by the people of Boston. Should we have taken the risk? In hindsight, the answer is 'no.'" Blackmun equated that choice to the Seahawks' decision "to throw at the goal line in the closing moments" of Super Bowl XLIX. He added, "But here's the thing. Unlike the Seahawks, we have not lost the game. We are back on our feet, we have found a second chance waiting and the whole game is in front of us." L.A. 2024 Chair Casey Wasserman touted L.A. as a "storytelling city" with 85% of its venues "already in place, along with a stellar Olympic pedigree" as a two-time host (AP, 9/24). In L.A., David Wharton notes there was "no mention of Wasserman's assertion last month that USOC staff originally favored Los Angeles, only to have the board of directors vote otherwise." USOC Chair Larry Probst said that IOC members around the world "were 'surprised and somewhat disappointed' by the negative headlines in Boston, but supported the U.S. switching to another city" (L.A. TIMES, 9/25). In Colorado Springs, Joe Paisley writes Thursday's assembly "served as a pep rally for LA 2024." Getting the nation's Olympic sports leaders behind L.A. 2024 "is needed if they are to beat out bids from Budapest, Hamburg, Paris and Rome." Blackmun: "We need everyone aligned in this effort. We need to find the right formula to nationalize L.A. 2024; to make it America's campaign and make sure all of our constituents, their families, and friends are engaged in support of L.A.'s quest." USA Wrestling Exec Dir Rich Bender said, "There is no doubt that hosting the Olympics raises the profile of each individual sport. There is a lot of buzz here about L.A. Everyone realizes how much the movement would benefit" (Colorado Springs GAZETTE, 9/25).
A THOUSAND MILES: IOC President Thomas Bach said that the organization "is now willing to consider bids from cities where the venues may be separated by thousands of miles or even international borders." In an effort to reduce costs and increase the number of potential cities that could host the Winter Games, Bach said that the IOC "won’t require bids to produce a compact and cohesive plan for all events." The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Matthew Futterman notes Bach offered Quebec City as an example of a former bid city ('02) that "struggled to come up with an adequate site for downhill skiing." Bach added that the IOC moving forward "wouldn’t object to a plan that staged ice events in Quebec City but put downhill skiing events far away," citing possible locations as Calgary, Whistler or Whiteface near Lake Placid, N.Y. (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/25).
