The northeastern city of Boston has been selected as the U.S. candidate city that will bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.
At a meeting in Denver, Colorado, Thursday, a 15-member U.S. Olympic Committee panel chose Boston over two-time Olympics host Los Angeles, as well as San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Boston has never hosted an Olympics.
“We're excited about our plans to submit a bid for the 2024 Games and feel we have an incredibly strong partner in Boston that will work with us to present a compelling bid,” USOC Chairman Larry Probst said in a statement.
The U.S. itself has not hosted a Summer Olympics for almost 20 years. The last was Atlanta in 1996. Boston will face stiff competition from abroad, including Rome and perhaps Berlin and Paris, as well as a city yet to be determined from Africa.
Cities have until September to officially put in a bid. A decision on the 2024 host is expected to be made by the International Olympic Committee in mid-2017.
There is opposition in Boston to the city's bid to host the 2024 Olympics. Opponents say the city cannot afford to divert resources and attention from other needs, like adding affordable housing and fixing its transportation infrastructure.
Some information for this report came from Reuters.
