Los Angeles Reaches Deal To Host 2028 Olympics, Paris Hosting 2024 Games
Los Angeles receives financial incentive to delay Olympic hosting dreams until 2028, leaving Paris free to host in 20204.
OMNISPORT
Los Angeles has agreed a deal that will see the city host the 2028 Olympic Games, clearing the way for Paris to stage the event in 2024.
The city's bid team has reached an agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to host the 2028 Games, it announced on Monday, ceding the 2024 Olympics it had sought to the only other remaining bidder, Paris.
The US Olympic Committee and Los Angeles City Council must approve the deal next month and the IOC will officially vote on awarding the Games at its scheduled September 13 meeting in Lima, Peru, but those moves are expected to be a formality.
"We are very confident that we can reach a tripartite agreement under the leadership of the IOC with LA and Paris in August, creating a win-win-win situation for all three partners," IOC president Thomas Bach said in a statement.
That split of the two Games was the expected outcome in the wake of the IOC's decision earlier this month to break from tradition and award the 2024 and 2028 Olympics simultaneously.
Paris bid leaders have been consistent in saying they are interested only in the 2024 event, while the Los Angeles group has been more open in its public statements recently about dropping back to 2028.
"This is an historic day for Los Angeles, for the United States and for the Olympic and Paralympic Movements around the world," Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a release. "Today, we take a major step toward bringing the Games back to our city for the first time in a generation and begin a new chapter in Los Angeles' timeless Olympic story.
"This agreement with the IOC will allow us to seed a legacy of hope and opportunity that will lift up every community in Los Angeles – not in 11 years’ time, but starting now and continuing in the years leading up to the Games. LA 2028 will kick-start our drive to make LA the healthiest city in America, by making youth sports more affordable and accessible than ever before."
L.A. previously hosted the Games in 1932 and 1984. Paris hosted in 1900 and 1924.