L.A. in the Running for Olympics

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Los Angeles is one of five U.S. cities selected as a potential host for the 2016 Summer Olympics, the U.S. Olympic Committee announced Wednesday.


Along with Los Angeles, the U.S. committee chose Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia and San Francisco as candidate cities.


In the next two weeks, delegations from all five cities will meet with the U.S. Olympic Committee leadership, including chairman Peter Ueberroth, who chaired Los Angeles’ successful mounting of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games. L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will head the L.A. delegation in its May 18 meeting.


“Los Angeles is a city built for the Olympic Games,” Villaraigosa said in a statement. “Our world-class sporting venues, international sports fans and history of success makes Los Angeles an ideal city to host the Olympics again.”


Los Angeles hosted both the 1932 and 1984 Olympic games and in its bid to the U.S. Olympic Committee stressed its experience in putting on two profitable and successful Olympiads. The 1932 Games generated a $1 million profit during the Great Depression and the 1984 Games made a profit of $232 million. Both Games had large components of private financing.


After these meetings, the U.S. Olympic Committee will decide whether it will proceed with a bid for the 2016 Games; no timetable has been set for that decision. While Los Angeles’ experience might be a strong selling point, the U.S. Olympic Committee has in the past emphasized a desire to give cities that have not hosted an Olympic Games a shot.


The International Olympic Committee will select the host city for the 2016 Games in 2009 at its session in Copenhagen, Denmark.

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Howard Fine
Howard Fine is a 23-year veteran of the Los Angeles Business Journal. He covers stories pertaining to healthcare, biomedicine, energy, engineering, construction, and infrastructure. He has won several awards, including Best Body of Work for a single reporter from the Alliance of Area Business Publishers and Distinguished Journalist of the Year from the Society of Professional Journalists.

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