Friday, April 26, 2013

San Diego and Tijuana Make Joint Bid for 2024 Olympics

Posted By on Fri, Apr 26, 2013 at 2:30 PM

olympic_rings.jpg
  • Courtesy of the International Olympic Committee

The 2024 Summer Olympics are over 10 years away, but in a move true to the publicity-mongering fashion of the International Olympic Committee, reports on what cities are bidding on the Games are already surfacing.

Of the 10 cities so far that have discussed putting in a bid to host in 2024, two seem to stand out: San Diego and Tijuana have entered in a joint proposal, responding to the U.S. Olympic Committee’s push for the games to return to the States - of course, with an international twist.

Joint proposals have been made to the IOC before, but haven’t yet been met with any success (neighboring cities sometimes host certain events, like Park City did for Salt Lake City in 2002, but aren’t considered “official host cities” of the Games).

San Diego Mayor Bob Filner announced the potential partnership today, but had to preface the proposal with, “I’m very serious,” which doesn’t exactly scream “confidence,” but I digress. Filner was joined by Tijuana Mayor Carlos Bustamante, who was notified of the plan after San Diego received a letter from the U.S. Olympic Committee regarding bids for 2024. Among the 35 other cities to receive the letter were Los Angeles and Philadelphia, which have also expressed interested in hosting. The other potential bidders will remain “confidential for now,” said USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun.

Obstacles would be plentiful if the San Diego-Tijuana bid moved forward, among them addressing the security concerns of border crossings for both spectators and athletes. Because the winning city won’t be selected until 2017, Blackmun said that while the USOC hasn’t “looked at (the proposal) carefully,” the committee has “plenty of time” to sort out the specifics and make a solid case for a Summer Games spent stateside.

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