Keen on planning a holiday in 11 years time? This one might be right up your alley.
The City of Angels, Los Angeles, is set to be officially confirmed as the host city for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, with bid officials reportedly reaching an agreement with the International Olympic Committee.
The successful bid would see LA host the games for the third time overall, joining London as a three-time Olympic host city. The 2028 Games would be the first time since 1984 that LA has hosted the games, and the first time since 1996 in Atlanta that the United States has held an Olympics.
The decision to award the 2028 Games to LA means its a virtual certainty that Paris will be the host of the 2024 Olympic Games, with all other host bids for either Olympiad withdrawn in a protracted and messy bidding process.
Repeated concerns about the Games’ financial viability and impact on host cities has seen countless bids from potential host cities withdrawn, leaving just two suitors for the next two Olympic games.
LA and Paris entered into an unusual agreement that was ratified by the IOC which prevented both cities from losing their Olympic bids; the only issue to sort out was who got which Games.
Paris hosting the 2024 represents 100 years exactly since the city last hosted an Olympic games, having previously held them back in 1924. Paris’ bid was bolstered largely by their world-class public transportation system.
The successful Los Angeles bid will be voted on and officially confirmed by the IOC next month in Lima, Peru.
Bid officials based their plan for 2028 Games on LA’s pre-existing facilities, as well as their pledge to expand youth sports programming in the 11-year run-up to the games. That the IOC awarded the 2028 games to LA, and not the 2024 edition, is also a sly nod to previous concerns about hosting an Olympics in America during a Donald Trump administration given… y’know… how all that business is currently panning out.
The IOC’s unusual move of awarding two Olympics at once also gives the organisation breathing room to assess public and national interest before having to award the subsequent 2032 Games.
The major cities to have withdrawn bids for the 2024 Games included Rome, Budapest, and Hamburg.
Both Melbourne and Brisbane (including the greater south-east Queensland region) are considering bids for the 2032 Games.
