Los Angeles will pursue bid to host 2024 Olympics Games

If successful, LA would become only the second city after London to host the event three times

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti officially launching the Los Angeles 2024 Olympic bid in Santa Monica, California (Getty Images)

The Los Angeles City Council has voted to pursue a bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, after officials in Boston withdrew the Massachusetts capital from contention.

The council voted on Tuesday morning to allow LA Mayor Eric Garcetti to go forward with the bid. The US Olympic Committee was expected to name LA as its official American candidate for the 2024 Games later today. If it were awarded the Olympics again, LA would become only the second city after London to host the event three times.

The bid’s supporters believe the city could organise the Games on a relatively modest budget, given how many venues already exist from previous sporting events, such as the Memorial Coliseum, which was built in 1923 and is still in use. The 1984 LA Olympics were the first Summer Games to break even since 1932, when they were also held in LA.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said his city pulled out of the race because he didn’t want taxpayers to foot the bill for the potentially vast cost overruns that have afflicted some previous host cities. Mr Garcetti is squarely in favour of LA hosting the Games, but some council members have expressed concerns about costs. LA24, the group behind the bid, has estimated that hosting the 2024 Olympics would cost the city less than $6bn (£4bn). The London 2012 Olympics cost around £9bn.

Rio de Janeiro is hosting next year’s Summer Games, followed by Tokyo in 2020. Paris, Hamburg, Budapest and Rome are already in the contest to convince the International Olympic Committee that they should host the 2024 Games, with Paris presently considered the favourite. The final decision will be unveiled in Lima, Peru in September 2017.