Los Angeles group continues working toward Olympic bid

A Los Angeles group looking to bring the Olympics back to Southern California for a third time said it has taken encouragement from recent comments by the president of International Olympic Committee.

The U.S. Olympic Committee has not yet decided whether it will bid for the 2024 Summer Games, but IOC President Thomas Bach told the Associated Press last weekend that “it’s time for the United States to present a strong bid.”

The Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games is hoping momentum builds for an American effort.

“We certainly agree with Bach,” SCCOG Chairman Barry Sanders said Tuesday. “And we’d like to be the centerpiece of that bid.”

Bach also offered his support for an Italian bid. He was in that country to attend the European Olympic Committees general assembly and meet with Pope Francis.

With the USOC looking to conduct a quiet, scaled-down bid process, Sanders declined to give details about SCCOG’s progress toward an official proposal.

Los Angeles previously hosted the Games in 1932 and 1984.

The USOC plans to establish a short list of candidate cities by early next year, then make a decision on whether to bid by early 2015 at the latest. The bid deadline is fall 2015, and the IOC will make its selection in 2017.

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