Group is networking in Rio de Janeiro to give L.A. an inside track at 2024 Olympics

Reporting from Rio de Janeiro —  It was well past noon when the members of the International Olympic Committee, who had been meeting all morning, finally came out for a break.

Amid the crowd of representatives from countries such as Argentina and Nigeria, a few unexpected faces popped up.

A smiling Mayor Eric Garcetti was there, followed closely by sports entrepreneur Casey Wasserman and former swimmer Janet Evans, all of them visiting from Los Angeles.

As leaders of the LA 2024 bid committee, they have come to Rio de Janeiro for more than two weeks of watching and listening, glad-handing and chatting — the delicate business of trying to win an Olympic Games for their city.

“It’s all about who you sit down with at lunch,” Garcetti said.

Los Angeles isn’t the only bidder attending the annual IOC Session and the ensuing 2016 Summer Games. Paris, Rome and Budapest have also sent contingents.

They have come at a tense moment in Olympic history as the IOC wrestles with Rio’s laundry list of troubles, including water pollution, an economic slump and the Zika virus outbreak.

There is also the Russian doping scandal, with officials scrambling to decide at the last moment which athletes from that country should be allowed to compete.

All of which creates a difficult environment for making a small talk, much less delivering a sales pitch. As Garcetti said: “I think you have to be aware of that.”

Yet these Olympics represent a can’t-miss opportunity.

After the Salt Lake City scandal in the late 1990s — IOC members were caught accepting bribes — the committee greatly restricted contact with bid cities.

The Games bring everyone together for an extended period, with lots of chances to mingle.

LA 2024, a private organization that has raised tens of millions to fund its campaign, has transplanted its entire staff of 25 to Brazil, operating from a rented conference room in the hotel across the street from the IOC meetings.

Each morning, team leaders, including Chief Executive Gene Sykes and political campaign veteran Jeff Millman, gather to plan their day.

Much of the focus this week is on the IOC’s three-day session where the business of the Games is being conducted. Garcetti, Wasserman and Evans hover on the periphery, button-holing members during coffee breaks and at lunch.

Some members they know from other conferences and sporting events they have attended in the 11 months since L.A. announced its candidacy. Others are unfamiliar.

“I introduce myself and say I was a swimmer and go from there,” said Evans, who won four gold medals and a silver medal at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics. “I’m not shy.”

The former athlete often talks with members about past Games. Garcetti is more likely to hear comments about what New York and Chicago did wrong in previous failed bids.

Halfway through Tuesday’s session, the mayor slipped out to drive across town and visit with his Rio counterpart, Eduardo Paes. LA 2024 has tried to arrange private meetings and dinners for every day here.

On Thursday, after the IOC convenes, the bid team will split up in an effort to attend a local business summit, a luncheon for the international table tennis federation and a dinner hosted by IOC President Thomas Bach, among other events.

The schedule will remain busy after the opening ceremony Aug. 5 with the IOC inviting bidders to participate in an “observer program” that takes them into backstage areas for a closer look at running an Olympics.

Garcetti, who recalls watching the 1984 Los Angeles Games, said: “I’m kind of like a 13-year-old kid all over again. I get to see the magic behind the scenes.”

There will be an elaborate LA 2024 display at Team USA’s temporary headquarters in Rio. The bid committee will also have inside help from Americans who serve on the IOC Anita DeFrantz, Larry Probst and Angela Ruggiero.

Ruggiero, a former hockey player, doubles as LA 2024’s chief strategy officer. She can see the situation from both sides.

“From the IOC member perspective, we can’t visit cities, we can’t fly around the world, so we have limited opportunities to really understand a bid,” she said. “It’s vitally important to get to know the cities.”

With the IOC not scheduled to select a 2024 host until September 2017, it is a little too early to talk about technical details.

Even so, Ruggiero said, “if you know the team you’ll be hearing from over the next year, if you develop that relationship, then if you have questions or want to give your input, you know who to go to.”

So bidders are happy just to get some face time in Brazil this month. They wonder if even a casual connection will make a difference when they give their final presentations at next year’s IOC session in Lima, Peru.

“When I take the stage, I want it to be, ‘Oh, there’s Eric,’ not ‘Oh, that’s the mayor of Los Angeles, I think,’ ” Garcetti said.

Which makes the next two or so weeks important.

It also explains why, on Tuesday, Garcetti was pleased with the fact that he got to sit next to the IOC member from Gambia at lunch.

david.wharton@latimes.com

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