Rio 2016 Olympics face pollution challenges: IOC

Tokyo 2020 Olympics President Yoshiro Mori, center, walks after a presentation to the IOC committee in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Wednesday, July 29, 2015.

That’s still more than two years away, and the U.S. Olympic Committee has seven weeks to replace Boston with a more willing candidate – one that shows more enthusiasm for hosting the games, and can withstand the criticism and questions that will invariably come in a contest against Paris, Rome, Budapest and others.

Corruption loves company. Until the IOC cleans up its act and starts staging games that pay for themselves, the United States doesn’t need another Olympics. Originally thought to be in the running for the games, Deadspin reports that city mayor Marty Walsh’s comments on the games were less than optimistic today.

“Boston was budgeting $2.8 billion for their Olympics village”, Zimbalist said. “But if we bid, our city’s existing world class venues would make an Olympics in Los Angeles profitable just as was in 1984”.

“We’d certainly like to think that some of that effort amounted to something”, Dempsey said at a press conference outside the State House with the group’s co-chair Kelly Gossett.

The failure of Boston’s bid leaves the USOC in the humbling position of having to pull together a short-notice plan to offer against their global rivals.

It died for good shortly after Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said he would not commit taxpayers to financing any cost overruns for the quadrennial spectacle.

“The USOC would very much like to see an American city host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024”, Blackmun said, adding that officials “understand the reality of the timeline that is before us”.

Boston 2024 chairman Steve Pagliuca portrayed the move as a joint decision made “in order to give the Olympic movement in the United States the best chance to bring the Games back to our country in 2024”. IOC officials, meanwhile, have acknowledged that although Guanabara Bay will not be completely free of pollution, they will be improved and safe enough for competition. Political missteps and hamhanded campaigning marred the last two U.S. bids – New York and Chicago each finished an embarrassing fourth for the 2012 and 2016 Games, respectively. But I have a soft spot for the Olympics – it has a meaning for the world that goes beyond dollars and cents.

Los Angeles was the only city to bid for the 1984 Games at a time when the Olympics were torn by boycotts and financial problems. Garcetti released a statement saying he’d had no contact with the USOC, but was willing to talk.

“Some of the analysis, especially around the economic development opportunities that were rolled out in that proposal, and some of the transportation initiatives”, says Governor Baker, “I think were pretty thoughtful and are things that we can learn from and incorporate into our own activity going forward”.

Los Angeles was looking to join London as the only cities to host the Summer Olympics three times.