LA 2024 and city officials on Thursday showed the "wealth of existing world-class venues for the IOC evaluation commission" and refused to "cede any emotional ground to a Paris bid linked to the 100th anniversary of the 1924 Games," according to Scott Reid of the ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, who would like more IOC officials to visit the city, said, "L.A. is the emotional choice. I don’t think it’s just the rational choice. I think the emotion is in place. This is the city that loves the Olympics. This is the city that breathes the Olympics." IOC officials had "asked LA 2024 officials not to use any bells and whistles" on the third of the evaluation commission's four days in L.A., which was to "focus on venues and infrastructure." Garcetti: "This is Hollywood. We could have had the best show. We could have had the cutest kids lining the streets, the most amazing fireworks. We didn’t change a single thing." Instead, the IOC "saw what is widely viewed" as L.A.'s "greatest strength: existing venues." Eighty-five percent of proposed venues "either already exist or are planned" with 80% of the facilities built since the '84 L.A. Games. LA 2024 Chair Casey Wasserman said, "If you’re bidding to stage the world’s greatest sporting event, having lots of world-class venues is a really good place to start." The IOC commission, breaking into three groups, saw "all but one" of L.A.'s proposed venues (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 5/12).
CHECK IT OUT! In L.A., David Wharton writes, "Pretty much everything else about the IOC evaluation commission’s stay in Southern California this week has been meticulously planned, each detail meant to showcase the campaign." Evaluators "walked into Staples Center to find the LA 2024 logo in place of the Lakers’ image at midcourt and on the basket stanchions." Around the arena’s "deserted concourse, television monitors flickered to life with highlights from past Olympic basketball games." IOC Evaluation Commission Chair Patrick Baumann also serves as Int'l Basketball Federation Secretary General, and it was "no coincidence ... that balls were quickly produced for a shoot-around." Though L.A.'s proposal "relies almost entirely on existing venues, every site would have to undergo an 'overlay.'" That "might entail special signage, decorations, additional scoreboards and seating." Evaluators were "provided with 'augmented reality' in the form of hand-held tablets." Wherever they "pointed the devices -- up and down, side to side -- the screen showed a moving digital image of what the venue would look like for the Games." Old-fashioned TV footage "came into play at the Coliseum when Nawal El Moutawakel, an IOC member and former hurdler, arrived." The "giant scoreboard played scenes of her gold-medal performance" at the '84 Games (L.A. TIMES, 5/12).
NOT SO FAST: The AP's Harris & Blood write there also is a lot that IOC members "won't see" during their L.A. visit. The city "notorious for its clotted freeway traffic will make use of a 'growing public transit system,' the LA proposal boasts." Indeed, L.A. has "billions of dollars of planned rail lines, some of which are under construction and not scheduled to be completed" until '23 or '24. Others are "in use and would drop spectators near venues." There are six venues planned for Long Beach, though some of them will "require temporary facilities that don't exist today, including a water polo pool." Erecting and "removing the temporary pool and bleachers" is projected at nearly $14M. A mountain-biking track in the hills east of L.A. will cost over $13M, while a temporary outdoor stadium would rise next to the famous Santa Monica Pier for beach volleyball at $23.4M (AP, 5/12).
