During a daylong meeting at the Denver airport on January 8, 2015, U.S. Olympic committee board members chose Boston over Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington as the U.S. candidate to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Boston joins Rome as the only other city that has officially decided to bid. Germany will submit either Hamburg or Berlin, with France and Hungary among those also considering bids. The International Olympic Committee will award the Games in 2017.
Seeking to become the first American host for Summer Olympic Games since Atlanta in 1996, Boston focused on its ability to use the more than 100 universities throughout the area to house events and athletes.
It touted a walkable, technology-based Olympics with an operating budget under $5 billion. It said as many as 70% of its venues would not stand permanently, and a new main stadium might be shrunk to someday host a soccer team. Colleges might pay for many of the venues, then take them over after the Games.
“There’s a lot of pre-existing infrastructure that’s available” because of the colleges, said USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny. “That’s one of the reasons Boston can work at a really high level.”
For more information about the USOC 2024 selections and possible venues, visit: www.2024boston.org.