This week, San Diego became the first U.S. city to officially enter a bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. the 80-page proposal was submitted to the U.S. Olympic committee this week, the product of the work of over 700 volunteer workers, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
From here, the bid will be considered by the USOC, which is expected to announce three finalists in May. From those three, one U.S. city will eventually be selected as the USOC’s official candidate, and that bid will be sent to the International Olympic Committee to determine the official 2024 host.
Though one high point of the San Diego proposal is that many of the neccessary athletic facilities already exist in the area, a swimming stadium large enough to host the Olympic Games doesn’t seem to be one of them. That means a new facility would likely be constructed to house the aquatic events.
Fiesta Island would be a major site for the Games if the bid is accepted. Costs are expected to run to about $4 billion.
According to an Inside the Games story, one of the cities likely to challenge San Diego for the U.S. bid is California rival Los Angeles, while worldwide bids appear to be coming from Paris, Berlin and Rome among others.
I prefer the Bay Area to LA or SD.
I know it’s not summer, but with the most recent selection of hosts in Sochi, I have a hard time believing that to be a major factor anymore or anything remotely close to a logical criticism like that of a city like San Diego. 10 years to pick up more international flights into San Deigo doesn’t seem to be a insurmountable task.
Brilliant. LA and San Diego are the two that have the infrastructure AND the climate to host an Olympic Games.
Please, USOC, close ranks…no Washington DC, Chicago, etc. Cities that are 105 degrees and humid in Summer are just too unpleasant to the competitors and to the spectators.
Viva Ron Burgundy.
I am good with this.
But San Diego will need to do something about their airport / air access if they want to be taken seriously as an Olympic Games caliber city. Only one daily flight to Asia (Tokyo) and one daily flight to Europe (London) — will not cut it.
With flights into LAX or even DFW they can transfer planes from these airports easily. Not sure if you are expecting direct flights to San Diego, there are options..
I am all for San Diego getting the bid, it would be incredible to have the Olympics there. The weather alone…
Of course the air travel thing can be worked around from a practical point of view – that’s not my point.
I’m saying this factor will not make a positive impression on the IOC that SD is a legitimate candidate (an international class gateway city) when it enjoys virtually no direct international service.
Look at the following list of most recent host cities – it’s hard to place SD among them Only Atlanta even remotely compares to San Diego as a relatively 2nd tier city — the difference being that Atlanta is Coca Cola’s world headquarters (read: corporate sponsor backing) and a huge international air hub.
London… Read more »
Beijing
Athens
Sydney
Atlanta
Barcelona
Seoul