IOC President Thomas Bach yesterday visited L.A. in the final of four stops on his tour of cities bidding on the '24 Summer Games, and LA 2024 officials "wanted to make an impression," according to David Wharton of the L.A. TIMES. Bach also has visited Budapest, Rome and Paris. His day in L.A. began at 8:00am PT as Mayor Eric Garcetti and City Council President Herb Wesson "hosted Bach for breakfast." The group "proceeded to USC to hear about proposed media housing on that campus and renovations to the Coliseum." UCLA was "probably the most important stop, with Garcetti donning a blue U.S. team jacket and former Olympians such as Carl Lewis, Bart Conner and Nadia Comaneci in attendance." LA 2024 last week "proposed housing athletes on the Westwood campus," thereby saving $1B or more on construction of a separate Olympic village. For IOC voters, visions of "modest dorms might come to mind." So bid officials "showed Bach the student housing and adjacent sports venues such as Drake Stadium and the Wooden Center that athletes could use during the Games." The group "ate lunch at a dining hall." At the end of the day, Bach "praised all four bid cities" (L.A. TIMES, 2/2). Bach described the visit as "very special," and called LA 2024's plans and venues "most impressive." He also said the city has a "strong team, a strong candidature addressing our Olympic reform program, the Olympic Agenda 2020 in a way which shows how much you can build on an Olympic legacy." In California, Scott Reid notes Bach arrived in L.A. on Sunday "in time to attend a Lakers game and hang out with Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant, leaving Staples Center with a No. 24 jersey" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 2/2).
