Boston 2024's Demise Opens Door For Other North American Cities

The 2024 Olympics will not be in Boston. The city's campaign to host the Summer Games came to an end on Monday when the U.S. Olympic Committee and the local organizing group Boston 2024 announced their decision to withdraw the bid. Now other North American cities are renewing their push to host the Games.

As Only A Game reported over the weekend, the Boston bid had been troubled from the start. Polls gauging public support in Massachusetts hovered well below 50 percent. Chris Dempsey of the opposition group No Boston Olympics told OAG that he saw the launch of the bid as the first in a series of public-relations missteps.

“The USOC clearly underestimated the people of Greater Boston. They thought because we are a rabid sports town that we would just accept this idea. I think they didn’t understand that our passion for sports is rivaled only by our passion for a good, healthy debate.”

On Monday, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh refused to sign a host-city agreement until the USOC provided a more detailed accounting of the financial requirements for the Games. By the afternoon, the bid was dead.

With Boston out of contention, the spotlight turns back to another North American city that had been in the running earlier. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti released a statement about his interest in hosting the Games, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“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. 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.”

Meanwhile, Toronto, which is hosting the 2015 Pan Am Games may enter the competition for 2024.

According to a CBC report published Sunday, the Canadian Olympic Committee's president is on the record with his support of hosting the Games in Toronto.

Marcel Aubut told CBC News that he will "absolutely lead and advocate with the whole power of my office that Toronto becomes the host city for 2024 Olympic Games."

But there are several other steps before Canada can formalize its bid.

The International Olympic Committee's ultimate decision on which city — within or outside of North America — will host the Games will be made in September 2017.