The organising committee behind Los Angeles’ bid to host the summer Olympic Games in 2024 has announced details of a revised plan that would result in a number of new venues staging events should the US city land the multi-sport showpiece.
Anaheim’s Honda Center; Long Beach’s Arena, Convention Center, Waterfront and Pier; and the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles have each been added to LA 2024’s new Games plan.
The venues have been added following months of consultations with international sports federations and local communities. If LA 2024 is successful in its bid, it will mark the first time in 28 years that the US has staged the summer Games.
LA 2024 intends on using existing, state-of-the-art venues instead of building new facilities. In its revised plan, LA 2024 said its Olympic and Paralympic village would offer “extensive and fully integrated” training facilities.
The University of California, Los Angeles’ (UCLA) previously-designated competition venues – the tennis centre and North Athletic Field – will now join Drake track and field stadium as part of the village’s training centre. All athletes will have access to training facilities either at the village or at their competition venue, reducing the risk to travel further afield.
LA’s Olympic Park will also offer four unique sports parks in downtown Los Angeles, the South Bay, the Valley and Long Beach. The city-wide plan marks a change in strategy for a Games, with Olympic Parks traditionally more concentrated. LA 2024 stated the plan would make use of the city’s host of world-class sports venues and take the Games experience to more areas.
The Long Beach Sports Park will host handball events at its 13,500-seat arena; BMX and water polo in its temporary waterfront facilities; marathon swimming and triathlon along the Long Beach waterfront (triathlon will take place at the IndyCar Series Grand Prix race course); and sailing along the Long Beach Belmont Pier.
The Honda Center, the home venue of NHL ice hockey team the Anaheim Ducks, will host volleyball; the Riviera Country Club will host golf; and wrestling and judo events will be held at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion.
Under the revised Paralympics plan, wheelchair basketball will take place at Staples Center, wheelchair rugby will be held at the LA Convention Center, para triathlon will be staged at the Long Beach Waterfront and football five-a-side will be staged at South Bay Sports Park.
“We're very pleased to add more world-class existing venues to our fiscally responsible and innovative Games Plan for 2024,” LA 2024 chairman Casey Wasserman said. “By relying on Southern California's wealth of top sports, housing and transportation infrastructure, LA 2024 will minimise construction risk, operational struggles and costs, and can focus on providing athletes with the perfect stage to perform their best, without distraction."
"The IOC's (International Olympic Committee’s) Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms encourage cities to be sustainable, efficient and go where our existing venues are, and that is what we have done with this enhanced Games Plan.”
LA 2024’s venue changes will be included in the second part of its candidature file, which will be submitted to the IOC on October 7.
Los Angeles faces competition from Budapest, Paris and Rome to land the 2024 Games, although the latter’s effort to stage the event was effectively ended earlier this week when the its mayor, Virginia Raggi, rejected the bid. The IOC will announce the successful bid in September 2017.
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