L.A. making pitch to host its third Olympics in 2024

Mayor Eric Garcetti and a team of advisers will be in the Bay Area today – trying to convince the U.S. Olympic Organizing Committee that L.A.’s the place for the 2024 Summer Games.

The L.A. bid faces competition from three other U.S. cities: San Francisco, Boston and Washington, D.C. After hearing proposals from all four today, the USOC will make its decision later this month or early in the new year.

L.A., of course, has hosted the Olympics twice before – in

1932 and

1984 – and both were considered successful events. But L.A. isn’t leaning on the past. Garcetti’s team, including sports executive Casey Wasserman, is expected to tout new venues and infrastructure that have been built since the mid-80s. That includes Staples Center, which could host multiple events, and even Nokia Theatre and Walt Disney Concert Hall, which could host fencing and martial arts, for example.

The last two times the U.S. made a pitch for the Olympics the proposed host cities were New York and Chicago. Both of those bids were quickly shot down by the International Olympic Committee. It’s possible that U.S. officials could decide not to nominate any city to host the 2024 games.

If Los Angeles were to win the support of both national and international Olympics officials for 2024, it would join Athens and London as the only cities to host the Olympics three times.

Here are some perspectives from media in the other prospective host cities: San Francisco, Boston and Washington, D.C.