LA keeps 2024 deadline for Olympic projects despite winning 2028 bid
(Kaley Powers/Daily Bruin)
By Madeleine Pauker
Aug. 7, 2017 12:23 a.m.
Little will change in Los Angeles’ plans for the Olympic Games despite Monday’s announcement that it would host the games in 2028, four years later than its original bid.
The International Olympic Committee considered both Los Angeles and Paris to host the 2024 Games, but organizers reached an agreement for Los Angeles to host the games in 2028 and for Paris to host in 2024. In September, the IOC will ratify the decision in a meeting in Peru.
Los Angeles will still complete several transportation projects it advertised to support its 2024 bid by 2024, said Metro spokesperson Dave Sotero. The 2028 date has also left the details of Los Angeles’ bid and UCLA’s role in the games unchanged, said LA 2024 Olympic Bid Committee spokesperson Jeff Millman.
Metro officials asked for federal funding to finish constructing the Purple Line Extension, which will connect Westwood to downtown Los Angeles, by 2024 in anticipation of Los Angeles hosting the 2024 Games. Metro will still complete the Purple Line Extension and other projects meant to support the Olympics by 2024, Sotero said.
Olympic athletes and support personnel will live on the Hill during the 2028 Games and train at Drake Stadium, according to the bid book. Athletes will use the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance for medical services.
Zev Yaroslavsky, a former Los Angeles city council member, said he thinks it will be beneficial for Metro projects originally tied to the 2024 Games to be up and running for a few years before Los Angeles hosts the Olympics.
“Having 2028 as the horizon makes it much more likely that many projects associated with the games will get done for the games,” Yaroslavsky said.
He added he thinks Los Angeles’ bid will be cost-effective because the city will use existing athletic facilities and housing, including the UCLA campus, to support the games.
“If the (Los Angeles) organizing committee continues to operate with fiscal discipline, it’s possible these games could be run without a deficit, even at a surplus,” Yaroslavsky said. “(Los Angeles) is the most capable city in the world to stage the games at the lowest possible cost.”
