The U.S. Olympic Committee said on Thursday that it has selected Boston as the city to represent the U.S. in its bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The USOC made the announcement on Twitter following a meeting at Denver International Airport.
Boston beat out three other U.S. cities that were in the running - Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and San Francisco. Only Los Angeles had previously hosted the Games, doing so in 1932 and 1984.
The decision means that Boston will spend the next two and a half years in a tough competition to bid for the Games. According to The Boston Globe, the other cities in the running for the Games are Paris, Rome, Budapest and Istanbul. Germany is considering bids from Hamburg and Berlin. Other cities from Africa and Asia could jump into the race as well. However, a city won’t be picked until 2017.
“One of the great things about the Boston bid was that the bid leadership and the political leadership were on the same page,” Scott Blackmun, USOC chief executive, told the Globe. They also appreciated the city’s strong sports culture.
“This selection is in recognition of our city's talent, diversity and global leadership. Our goal is to host an Olympic and Paralympic Games that are innovative, walkable and hospitable to all,” Boston mayor Marty Walsh said in a statement. “Boston hopes to welcome the world's greatest athletes to one of the world's great cities.”
Walsh will begin hosting community meetings on the Olympics next month and will continue through September.
The U.S. has not hosted the Olympics since the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games and hasn’t hosted the Summer Games since Atlanta in 1996. Past bids, including a Chicago bid for 2016, have failed.