Olympic legends Carl Lewis, Nadia Comaneci, Greg Louganis and Michael Phelps topped the 53-member athlete advisory commission announced yesterday by the LA 2024 Olympic bid commission. Along with advising the bid, the athletes were chosen to act as recognizable, popular advocates. The commission will embark on a national tour to raise support among athletes in other cities, starting with Atlanta. Campaigning by Olympic and bid execs is strictly limited by protocol. The group collectively has won 216 Olympic and Paralympic medals dating back to the '76 Montreal Games. Lewis, who won four Gold Medals at the last L.A. Games in '84, called the city’s people uniquely passionate about sport and hosting. “Every time I come to this city I'm swept away by the river of emotions from 1984,” he said (Ben Fischer, Staff Writer). In L.A., David Wharton notes other members on the commission include Rickie Fowler, Landon Donovan, Cobi Jones, Karch Kiraly, Meb Keflezighi and IOC member Angela Ruggiero. The group "plans to offer input on the bid and hold town halls across the country to gather suggestions" (L.A. TIMES, 3/9). LA 2024 Vice Chair Candace Cable said the bid commission "has an opportunity to help the IOC and the IPC reimagine the Games for the future." Cable: "That kind of opportunity doesn’t come along often. And I believe with all my heart that LA has a chance, just as it did twice before, to transform the Games and the movement.” USA TODAY's Rachel Axon notes bid organizers, led by Vice Chair Janet Evans, "are trying to satisfy Agenda 2020." That reform from the IOC "seeks not only to create a more sustainable Olympics but also requires bids to be athlete-centered." LA 2024 "will look to athletes to review venues, provide feedback about the bid and represent interests of athletes in the process" (USA TODAY, 3/9).
ON THE RIGHT TRACK: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Matthew Futterman notes the L.A. bid "has gotten strong early reviews" from officials with the IOC, as it "requires construction of just one venue." That "jibes with IOC President Thomas Bach’s preference for Olympics to become more manageable and less expensive." Officials with the USOC and those working on the bid said that they "were aware of the potential for anti-immigration rhetoric raised during the U.S. presidential campaign to affect how voters might feel about the country’s bid." USOC Chair Larry Probst: "The extraneous things we can’t control. We’ve got to work as hard as we can to work with the IOC members" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/9).
