Boston ends bid to host 2024 Olympics, LA may step up

Boston's bid to host the 2024 Olympics is over, undercut by its mayor, a skeptical public and, finally, leaders of the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), who now have seven weeks before nominating a city.

"We have not been able to get a majority of the citizens of Boston to support hosting the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games," USOC CEO Scott Blackmun said in a statement. "Therefore the USOC does not think that the level of support enjoyed by Boston's bid would allow it to prevail."

It may be time to see if there's more Olympic love in Los Angeles.

The end of Boston’s bid was met with relief by Massachusetts officials, who faced a campaign against hosting the Summer Games — forecast to cost more than $8.6 billion — from the moment the USOC picked the city in January over Los Angeles, Washington and San Francisco.

After the USOC and Boston cut ties on Monday, 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 been quietly pushing Los Angeles — the city played host in 1932 and 1984 — as the best possible option.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti indicated his enthusiasm for an Olympic bid. “I continue to believe that Los Angeles is the ideal Olympic city,” he said in a press release quoted in the Los Angeles Times. “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.”

The Boston bid started souring within days of its start, beset by poor communication and opposition efforts that kept public support low.

On Friday, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker stuck to his previous position: That he would need a full report from a consulting group before he would throw his weight behind the bid.

On Monday morning, Mayor Marty Walsh announced at a new conference, "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 opposition to the Olympics amounted to about "10 people on Twitter." He miscalculated, and the Internet struck back. The hashtag #10PeopleOnTwitter started trending.

The group 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 IOC," it said in a statement. "We're better off for having passed on Boston 2024."

The United States hasn't hosted a Summer Olympics since the Atlanta games in 1996. Salt Lake City was the site of the Winter Olympics in 2002. Bids for 2012 (New York) and 2016 (Chicago) both ended in fourth-place embarrassments.

Al Jazeera and wire services