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Boston was chosen on Thursday as the United State’s bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics over Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington D.C.
The only other bid as of now is Rome, although in the coming months Germany, France, Hungary and possibly South Africa will also submit bids.
That Boston was selected over Los Angeles and San Francisco was a surprise to some, given the massive infrastructural undertaking of the Games and the resistance from protest groups like No Boston Olympics.
If selected, the organizers are planning to use Bostons many universities to house the athletes and media. This is fitting with Mayor Walsh’s plans for universities to provide more on campus housing over the next five years.
Existing facilities, like Fenway Park and Boston Common could be used for events. Officials are proposing the creation of a modular stadium, one that can be converted or downsized after the games are finished, possibly into a stadium for the New England Revolution.
Besides the new stadium, other improvements would need to be completed for the Games, including renovations for the T, which at the moment is too unreliable and outdated to handle the increased demand the Olympics would cause.
Image via Anthony Golden / Gavel Media
“Our goal is to host an Olympic and Paralymic Games that are innovative, walkable and hospitable to all,” Mayor Walsh said.
No Boston Olympics, an organizing group opposing the possibility of a Boston Olympics says, “A Boston Olympics would divert resources from education, healthcare, transportation and open space -- all to throw an extravagant party for the unelected, unaccountable members of the International Olympic Committee.”
The United States bids for the most recent Olympics were New York in 2012 and Chicago in 2016, both of which lost early in the voting. The last time the US held the games since the Salt Lake City Winter Games in 2002.
The host for the games will be selected by 2017. Some members of the IOC have already voiced their support for a US Games, and Boston’s bid seems like a strong contender.
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