Olympics: LA Olympic bidders pitch unity, congratulate Trump
Organizers of the Los Angeles bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics congratulated Donald Trump on Wednesday on his election as the new US President and pitched an LA Games as unifying.
Los Angeles is competing with Paris and Budapest to host the Games of the 33rd Olympiad. The International Olympic Committee will announce the winning bidder next September at Lima, Peru.
"LA 2024 congratulates President-elect Donald J. Trump and appreciates his longstanding support of the Olympic movement in the United States," the Los Angeles bid committee said in a statement.
"We strongly believe the Olympics and LA 2024 transcend politics and can help unify our diverse communities and our world."
Trump won but only after a bitter and divisive campaign that saw opponent Hillary Clinton leading in the overall national vote but having already been defeated under the US electoral college system used to decide a winner.
Los Angeles bid organizers, who received the chance to go for a third Olympics for the city after Boston withdrew its candidacy, also pitched public and bipartisan backing for the bid.
"LA 2024 has achieved 88 percent public support in the latest poll and strong bipartisan government support at the local, state and federal level," the statement said.
"We look forward to working closely with President-elect Trump and his administration across the federal government to deliver a 'New Games for a new Era' that will benefit and inspire the entire Olympic movement in 2024."