2024 Olympics In The U.S.?

Friday morning update: Some interesting "inside baseball" history from the Washington Post. As with many things, it all comes down to money and politics.

For several years, relations between the USOC and the IOC were fraught, as the two sides bickered over finances. The global political climate in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks and the Iraq war isolated the United States within much of the IOC, and the number of U.S. supporters at IOC meetings seemed to shrink from year to year. Plus, when they were considering Olympic bids, many longtime IOC members couldn’t get over lingering distaste from the Atlanta Games, which suffered from transportation issues, security lapses and logistical disorganization.

“All that has gone away,” said David Wallechinsky, president of the International Society of Olympic Historians. “The current IOC is much friendlier to the United States. It’s a better environment.”

After Chicago’s failed bid, USOC officials made it their mission to improve frayed relations, and in the past five years there have been plenty of changes among both the IOC and the USOC leadership. Thomas Bach became the IOC’s new president in 2013, while Scott Blackmun took over as the USOC’s CEO in 2010. 

6.45 p.m. update: It's Boston. There was some confusion on Twitter after the announcement was made, with some tweeters appearing to think Boston had won the actual games. Not yet; today they just won the right to be the official American city bidding for 2024. The International Olympic Committee will announce the final selection in the summer of 2017. (Prior to that, in July of this year, the site of the 2022 Winter Games will be announced. Beijing and Almaty are the two candidate cities still in contention.)



Original Post:
I didn't realize it but today is a key milestone date in the march to the 2024 Summer Olympics. Later today the United States Olympic Committee Board of Directors is expected to select one of four American cities to go forward with the official U.S. bid for 2024. Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington D.C. are in the running; here are two of the video pitches:

Washington D.C.



San Diego





In 2024 it will have been 28 years since the U.S. last hosted the Summer Games (Atlanta 1996) and 22 years since our last Winter games (Salt Lake City, 2002.) Political reality might suggest that it's our turn. Stay tuned, if I hear an announcement I'll update this post.