LOS ANGELES: Casey Wasserman, chairman of LA 2024, has provided the most positive welcome possible for the IOC evaluation committee checking out the credentials of the two potential hosts.

The commission from the International Olympic Committee, led by Patrick Baumann, panel flies on at the end of the week to repeat the exercise in Paris.

In the background lurks speculation about how IOC president Thomas Bach can persuade the two cities to share out the Games between 2024 and 2028. Thus far both candidates have refused to back down on a shared insistence that their sole focus is 2024.

Wasserman, in setting out the commission’s busy schedule, could not disguise his pride in the facilities on show.

They represented “years of work by dozens of people, all united by one dream: to serve the Olympic and Paralympic Movements by creating a transformative 2024 Games here in LA.”

The commission is being tour-guided by Wasserman, Mayor Eric Garcetti, IOC executive board members Anita DeFrantz and Angelo Ruggiero, IOC member Larry Probst who heads the United States Olympic Committee and USOC ceo Scott Blackmun. Ruggiero also chairs the IOC athletes commission.

Formal presentations

Wasserman added: “We’ll give formal presentations to the EC on every aspect of our plan, and they’ll tour our city to see and examine the magnificent venues and facilities we’ve chosen for the 2024 Games.

“The LA2024 Games Concept and plan was created to address this unique moment in time: when cities around the world are becoming more reluctant to pursue the Games, LA offers the IOC certainty with 88pc support, a low-risk, verified budget and a sustainable Games plan that doesn’t require us to build a single permanent, new venue.

“We believe this is the Games model for the future.”

Explaining more about his vision of tomorrow’s Games world, Wasserman targeted the use of technology “to redefine sustainability, to minimize risk and creativly engage the global youth audience.”

He added: “Our vision, which we call ‘Follow the Sun’, is not about our Olympic weather; it’s about the future-focused culture of a special place called “California”, and how we want to harness it for the benefit of the Olympic and Paralympic Movements.”

The last time the IOC considered a US bid was in 2009 when Chicago (along with Tokyo and Madrid) were trounced by Rio de Janeiro for 2016.

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