Boston’s bid to host the 2024 Olympics was undercut by its own mayor, its skeptical public and, finally, leaders of the U.S. Olympic Committee, who were tired of the city’s ever-changing blueprint.

Next, it may be time to see if there’s more Olympic love in Los Angeles.

After the USOC and Boston cut ties Monday, USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun said the federation still wants to try to host the 2024 Games. The USOC has until Sept. 15 to officially name its candidate. Several Olympic leaders have quietly been pushing Los Angeles – the city that invented the modern-day template for the Olympics when it played host in 1984 – as the best possible substitute.

The USOC had chosen Boston over Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington in January, at the end of a mostly secretive selection process.

Blackmun said the new U.S. bid city will be chosen in August, and the short timetable – the USOC must submit official bid paperwork to the International Olympic Committee by September – makes Los Angeles the overwhelming favorite, given its runner-up finish to Boston in January, its extensive infrastructure already in place and its experience as host of the 1932 and 1984 Summer Games.

“I continue to believe that Los Angeles is the ideal Olympic city, and we have always supported the USOC in their effort to return the Games to the United States,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a written statement. “I would be happy to engage in discussions with the USOC about how to present the strongest and most fiscally responsible bid on behalf of our city and nation.” Approval ratings that couldn’t sneak out of the 40s were the first sign of trouble for Boston, and it became clear the bid was doomed in the 72-hour period before the USOC board met with bid leaders Monday and they jointly decided to pull the plug.

Advertisement

On Friday, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker stuck to his previous position: that he’d need a full report from a consulting group before he would throw his weight behind the bid. On Monday morning, Mayor Marty Walsh slapped together a news conference to announce he wouldn’t be pressured into signing the host city contract that essentially sticks the city and state with the burden of any cost overruns.

No governor. No mayor. No bid.

“Boston 2024 has expressed confidence that, with more time, they could generate the public support necessary to win the bid and deliver a great games,” Blackmun said. “They also recognize, however, that we are out of time if the USOC is going to be able to consider a bid from another city.”

The Boston bid started souring within days of its beginning in January, beset by poor communication and an active opposition group that kept public support low. At his news conference, Walsh said the opposition to the Olympics amounted to about “10 people on Twitter.” He miscalculated, and the Internet struck back. The hashtag #10peopleonTwitter started trending.

On Monday, the chairs of No Boston Olympics planned a celebration at a Boston pub.

“We need to move forward as a city, and today’s decision allows us to do that on our own terms, not the terms of the USOC or the (International Olympic Committee),” they said in a written statement. “We’re better off for having passed on Boston 2024.”

Advertisement

Boston 2024 chairman Steve Pagliuca said the move was 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.”

The U.S. hasn’t hosted a Summer Olympics since the Atlanta Games in 1996, or any Olympics since the Salt Lake City Winter Games in 2002. Bids for 2012 (New York) and 2016 (Chicago) both ended in fourth-place embarrassments.

The USOC spent nearly two years on a mostly secret domestic selection process for 2024 that began with letters to almost three dozen cities gauging interest in hosting the games. The thought was that the long gap between Olympics, combined with the USOC’s vastly improved relationship with international leaders, would make this America’s race to lose. Instead, the federation ran into trouble before getting to the starting line.

There’s still time to save face if chairman Larry Probst and Blackmun make quick phone calls to leaders in Los Angeles. The ’84 Games, with former USOC Chairman Peter Ueberroth helping call the shots, came in the wake of the 1980 Moscow boycott and a bidding process in which only one other city – Tehran – expressed serious interest. Los Angeles reinvigorated the struggling Olympic brand. Some of the venues, including the L.A. Coliseum, are already in place and could be spruced up for the 2024 Games.

Still, when the USOC was going through its vetting process, some at the IOC chafed at a possible return to a sprawling, traffic-choked city that the Olympics had been to twice already. But as the Boston bid tanked, Los Angeles started looking better.

Probst will get a first-hand feel for it all later this week when he attends an IOC meeting in Malaysia.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, the Boston bid will never see where it stands against Rome, Paris, Hamburg, Germany, and, quite possibly, Toronto, which is considering a bid. The bid’s one and only public disclosure report, released in March, said $2 million was spent over the initial months of the bid.

Boston’s initial bid team talked a big game, but made empty promises. Recently released documents show organizers underestimated the amount of opposition and downplayed the possibility of a statewide referendum on the games.

Most of that bid team was replaced, but the new team, led by Pagliuca, didn’t fare much better. The team’s new plan took a blowtorch to the popular idea of a compact, walkable Olympics, instead spreading venues around the metro area and the state. There was no firm plan for a media center, considered one of the biggest projects at any games. Even though complex insurance policies were in place, claims that the public wouldn’t be on the hook for the multibillion-dollar sports event never gained traction.

Walsh’s news conference Monday reflected that.

“I will not sign a document that puts one dollar of taxpayers’ money on the line for one penny of overruns on the Olympics,” he said.

Turns out, he won’t have to.

The Washington Post contributed to this report.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.