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 After stunning rebukes to New York to host the 2012 Olympics and
Chicago's failed attempt for the 2016 Games the USOC has taken a
cautious and methodical approach in its latest effort to land the
sporting world's biggest prize.
But prudence has slowly given way to confidence and the overwhelming
buzz around the USOC's annual general assembly that wrapped up
Friday was that America's time to stage a Games again has come.
"A year from now, hopefully we'll be in the final stages of
preparing a bid for the 2024 Games," USOC chief executive Scott
Blackmun told a receptive audience of sporting delegates. "We're
excited because the last time we hosted a Summer Games was 1996
which means there is a whole generation of Americans who haven't
been able to see the (Summer) Olympic Games on American soil and
that is very, very important for us."
The idea of hosting the 2024 Games had near unanimous support from
the country's sports federations, Blackmun noted.
But the United States can expect stiff competition if it does bid
with Paris and Doha among those that could enter the race.
FOUR IN RUNNING
Earlier this year the USOC short-listed four candidate cities --
Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington. Los Angeles
hosted the 1932 and 1984 Olympics; the others would be first-time
hosts.
"I think any of the four cities would do a great job, I also think
any city the United States presents will have an extraordinarily
good chance of success," Rob Stull a four-time Olympian and former
USOC board member told Reuters. "There are a lot of reasons for
that, the television, broadcasting and marketing issue that was a
stumbling block with the IOC has been resolved.
"By the time 2024 comes around it will have been 28 years since the
last Summer Games so you could argue that it is our time," said
Stull, who is the chief executive of USA Pentathlon.
"There is no Beijing out there, they were the 800 pound gorilla, the
writing was on the wall that the Games had to go to China, so there
is nobody like that out there.
"The stumbling blocks have been removed."
After the rejections of New York and Chicago, the USOC said it would
not seek a Games until it had laid the groundwork for a bid that
included mending fences with the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) following a bitter revenue-sharing dispute.
Blackmun and USOC chairman Larry Probst have spent several years
patching up the strained relationship and are now confident that a
U.S. bid would be welcomed by the IOC.
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Still, hard feelings continue to linger.
Back in Chicago, the USOC was reminded of the Windy City's shock
first-round flop in voting for the 2016 Olympics and just how fickle
the process of landing a Games can be, but Blackmun asked his
audience to look ahead rather than behind.
"We're incredibly excited about Rio (Olympics) but just being here
in Chicago there's some disappointment because Chicago would have
done an unbelievable job...if we had been fortunate enough to win
that bid," said Blackmun. "But we are looking very, very closely at
a bid for 2024.
"We did a poll of the NGBs (national governing bodies) and the
amount of support we have to bid for a Games is unbelievable, nearly
unanimous.
"There was really no negative response."
Before pushing forward the USOC said it was awaiting the IOC's 2020
report which will consider changes to the bid process along with
other modifications to the way the organization does business.
"I hope it will be Los Angeles," said former U.S. swimming great
John Naber, who is on the board of the Southern California Committee
for the Olympic Games. "It is time the U.S. host an Olympics.
"The LA Games in '32 and '84 changed the Olympic movement for the
better. In both cases they really helped the Olympic movement and I
really believe we can do it again.
"We want to avoid moth-balling Olympic facilities that is an
embarrassment to the Olympic movement.
"Mothballed facilities are a bad legacy."
(Editing by Gene Cherry)
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