With the conclusion of the 2016 Olympics Games in Rio de Janeiro, candidate cities around the world are already looking eight years ahead in hopes of hosting the 2024 Summer Olympics. With four contenders for the 2024 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles is making a big push for the games to be held there once again. The games have been held in LA twice before, in 1932 and 1984. Other cities competing to host the game include, Rome, Paris and Budapest.
The focal point for Los Angeles’s proposal is, the infrastructure and resources are already in place to host a phenomenal and cost effective Olympic Games. The city already has all the buildings, transportation, and stadiums necessary for the Olympic Village.
Public outrage from the past Olympic Games held at Rio and Beijing exploded regarding the billions of dollars and the thousands of families evicted from their homes in order to construct the Olympic buildings.
“It is a very sad scene here. Memory cannot be evicted. There are no words for what is happening,” Luiz da Silva, a resident of the destroyed Favela’s in Rio said.
In 2008 there was a similar scenario where over 1.5 million residents of Beijing were evicted due to the Olympic games.
"As soon as you are evicted, you lose part of your livelihood," an evicted resident of Beijing said to reuters.com.
In order to prevent such controversy, LA decided to take a different angle on their argument. Instead of promising to build extravagant host sites, there goal is the use what they already have. Such venues include: the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Staples Center, UCLA Pauley Pavilion , USC Galen Center, The Forum, StubHub Center, and the Rose Bowl stadium. Los Angeles also has world renowned beaches and harbors such as Santa Monica, the LA waterfront and Lake Casitas, where open water swimming, sailing, rowing and beach volleyball could potentially be held. The Olympic committee estimates that 97% of all necessary venues are already in place. All these locations would be located within 30 minutes of the Olympic Village to minimize transportation costs and travel time.
“We won’t build things for the Olympics and hope they benefit the people of L.A. We are building things for the people of L.A. already and we hope that they will benefit the Olympics in turn,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said.
Out of the contenders, LA has the highest local support, with 81% of residents in favor of the bid. With little to no threats to the citizens of LA, they encourage the proposal.
“I think the way LA is planning to take advantage of their open property for the 2024 summer games is very beneficial for the citizens. Rathern than the citizens being evicted from their homes to build a village for short time use, they have the opportunity to stay in their houses without any disruptions,” NHS junior Kristen Oliger said.
The winner of the 2024 bid will be announced in September of 2017, until then, LA is crossing their fingers.
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