Eric Garcetti is leading a Los Angeles 2024 delegation for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Candidate City Briefing – starting tomorrow – which also includes champion sprinters Allyson Felix and Michael Johnson.
They will present to the full IOC membership for the first time tomorrow in a closed meeting, although their presentation will be publicly circulated afterwards.
Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti is leading the team in the absence of any representative from the Donald Trump administration.
French President Emmanuel Macron is leading the team of their sole rival Paris.
Bid chairman Casey Wasserman, chief executive Gene Sykes and vice-chairs Janet Evans and Candace Cable will also be present.
They will be joined by all three American IOC members in Anita De Frantz, Angela Ruggiero and United States Olympic Committee (USOC) chairman Larry Probst, along with USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun.
Six-time Olympic champion Felix will reprise a role she performed successfully when presenting at November’s Association of National Olympic Committee General Assembly in Doha.
She delivered a powerful speech in which she described American “diversity” as its greatest strength following the election of Trump the previous week.
Four-time Olympic champion Johnson is, like Felix, a member of the Los Angeles 2024 Athlete Advisory Commission.
The duo will help deliver a 45 minute presentation followed by a 30 minute question and answer session.
“LA 2024’s presentation will demonstrate the bid’s alignment with Olympic Agenda 2020’s first recommendation to offer an Olympic project that best matches LA’s sports, economic, social and environmental long-term planning needs,” a statement said.
Evans and Johnson have already visited the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, where the Olympic Torch that Evans passed to boxing legend Muhammad Ali and Johnson’s golden spikes from Atlanta 1996 are on display.
“LA 2024 is an embodiment of Olympic Agenda 2020,” added Garcetti.
“Our Games Plan fits perfectly with the unstoppable forward momentum of our city; our communities are excited about the prospect of welcoming the world and experiencing the unique long-term benefits of hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“Los Angeles is an ideal Olympic city and the right partner for the IOC right now, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to show that right here in the Olympic capital.”
By Nick Butler
Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz.