Los Angeles, 3 other cities advance in bid process for 2024 Olympics

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — All four cities trying to host the 2024 Games have advanced to the next stage of campaigning with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) finding no major flaws in their bids, it said on Thursday.

Budapest, Paris, Los Angeles and Rome are campaigning for the right to stage the Summer Olympics in eight years time.

Hamburg and Boston had initially bid but pulled out over financial concerns. Boston was replaced by Los Angeles as the choice of the United States.

“There were no significant issues flagged up for a city not to be advanced,” spokesman Mark Adams said following a meeting of the IOC’s Executive Board.

All four must now deliver a second part of their bid books by October.

“LA 2024 is honored to be part of the IOC’s candidature process and to be progressing to the next stage equipped with all the support and insightful feedback we have received from the IOC and the Olympic Family over the last four months,” Los Angeles bid chief Casey Wassermann said in a statement.

A third part of their two-year candidature file will need to be submitted in February. The IOC will elect the winning bid in Lima, Peru in September 2017.

“Our central aim is to produce the best possible bid and to show what Paris and France would bring to a celebration of sport and Olympism through hosting the 2024 Games,” said the capital city’s 2024 CEO Etienne Thobois. (Editing by Tony Jimenez)