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LA 2024 completes talks to add Lake Perris to Olympic venue list

A view of Lake Perris
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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LA 2024 officials have finalized negotiations with the state of California to add Lake Perris as a rowing and canoe-sprint venue for their Olympic bid.

The switch to a Riverside County site 70 miles from downtown Los Angeles expands the footprint eastward for what had initially been touted as a compact Games.

But bid officials, who recently shifted other venues to Long Beach and Anaheim, said the change suits their “strategy of integrating the best of Southern California’s existing world-class sports, leisure and tourism infrastructure.”

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“Most importantly, Lake Perris will provide a breathtaking setting to inspire athletes and deliver the perfect conditions for the performances of a lifetime,” committee Chairman Casey Wasserman said in a statement.

The original bid featured rowing and canoe events at Ventura County’s Lake Casitas — which served as a venue for the 1984 Los Angeles Games — but that was expected to change.

david.wharton@latimes.com

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