LA 2024 leaders this week are being visited by an IOC delegation sent for a final evaluation of their bid, but "some experts who study the Olympic movement wonder" how much the group’s hard work will "matter," according to David Wharton of the L.A. TIMES. The '24 Games host site will be "decided in September by a diverse group of IOC members casting secret ballots." No one will "know for sure if they were swayed by the report the evaluation commission produces." The current bidding cycle is "even more complex than usual because Olympic officials have indicated they might take the extraordinary step of naming two winners," giving '24 to one city and '28 to the other. LA 2024 has "planned a busy schedule" for the 13 evaluators arriving today. Tomorrow and Friday have been "earmarked for meetings, bookending a Thursday tour of the proposed venues." L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, who has "spearheaded the campaign, will play a prominent role." There will be a "trip to a Dodgers game and a dinner in Beverly Hills." Celebrities will also "make cameo appearances along the way." Perhaps the "biggest priority will be a stop at UCLA, which would serve as an athletes village." LA 2024 "needs to prove that student housing on the Westwood campus exceeds the traditional image of a bare-bones dorm" (L.A. TIMES, 5/9). In L.A., Tony Barboza notes some of the city's "most visible landmarks," including City Hall, the Getty Center, the Capitol Records building and the new Wilshire Grand skyscraper will "light up in the hues of a Southern California sunset this week in support of the bid." Landmarks such as the Griffith Observatory will be illuminated in "yellows, oranges, reds and purples" (L.A. TIMES, 5/9).
DISTANCE FACTOR: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Matthew Futterman notes the Paris bid for the '24 Games, L.A.'s only remaining competition, "requires billions of dollars in government funding" -- a fact that L.A. officials "see as their main advantage." In recent years, the IOC has "faced persistent criticism that governments waste money building white elephants for the Games." L.A. organizers have said that they will "almost exclusively use existing facilities, many of which can be accessed by either existing or planned rail systems." They argue those elements will "allow them to stay within" the proposed $5.3B budget. But when the IOC comes to town, it will be "reminded of the vastness of the region and the distance been the various facilities." The LA 2024 plan has venues "stretching from Sepulveda Basin in the San Fernando Valley" to 90 miles east at Lake Perris in the "heart of the Inland Empire." Anaheim’s Honda Center, the "proposed site of volleyball, is 45 miles from the athletes village" at UCLA, which is 25 miles "from the tennis center in Carson and 35 miles from the Long Beach waterfront that would host triathlon, water polo and other events" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 5/9). The AP's Pells & Blood note traffic is as "much a symbol" of L.A. as the Hollywood sign or the Lakers, and it is "certain officials will do their best to keep their guests far away from the snarls this week." L.A.'s bid "promises to bring" 100% of ticketed spectators to competition sites "by public transportation or systems designed for spectators, such as shuttle buses." There are also memories of the '84 Games, when traffic "wasn't much of a problem in part because many of the locals left town or stayed off the freeways" (AP, 5/9).
ALL ABOUT SUPPORT: ESPN.com's Wayne Drehs wrote this bid cycle is a "major turning point for the Olympic movement." Boston, Budapest, Hamburg and Rome "all bailed" on their '24 Olympic bids. And six European cities "backed out of bidding" for the '22 Games, eventually awarded to Beijing. The IOC "knows it can't continue rewarding the Games to centralized governments like China and Russia." It "needs a host city where residents support the bid and the narrative of runaway Olympic costs can end." An independent study by Loyola Marymount Univ. last year found 88% of Angelenos "support L.A.'s bid." Paris and L.A. are both "very confident and most prognosticators believe" they are "virtually deadlocked heading into these final four months." Paris' bid is "centered on holding events near iconic venues like the Eiffel Tower and celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 1924 Games." L.A. is "leaning on California's technology corridor and social media creativity to help the IOC reach a younger demographic." President Trump is "not expected to visit with the Evaluation Commission during their visit," but "don't read into that." Garcetti said that Trump has been "extremely supportive of the bid since he was elected." Garcetti and LA 2024 Chair Casey Wasserman are also "selling the idea that their bid transcends politics." They said that a '24 L.A. Games could "unite the U.S. in a way that is needed more now than ever." From the IOC's perspective, their main concern is that "all athletes from all countries will be allowed in the U.S. to compete." The White House has "assured the IOC that is the case" (ESPN.com, 5/8).
TWO BETTER THAN ONE? In California, Scott Reid in a front-page piece notes IOC President Thomas Bach’s controversial push to award both the '24 and '28 Games this year is "seen by Olympic historians, economists and Olympic movement officials as an attempt to secure a high-profile win by an IOC desperate for a global triumph after a string of corruption scandals and political, economic and public relations controversies." But awarding both Games in '17 also would "carry risk for the IOC." The move would "potentially alienate nations considering bidding" for '28 but who are still in the planning stages for a competition that "normally would be decided" in '21. The two-Games-in-one-year plan also would give L.A. and Paris "unprecedented leverage with the IOC while creating an element of uncertainty" surrounding the '28 host city given the "political volatility in both the U.S. and France" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 5/9).
