L.A.’s Olympic bid leaders push for 2024 Games as presentation nears, but don’t slam door on 2028

Facing an important presentation before sports officials in Denmark next week, leaders of Los Angeles’ bid for the 2024 Summer Games still seem hesitant about playing a game of chicken with the International Olympic Committee.

The competition between L.A. and Paris has turned edgier in the weeks since the IOC confirmed it might seek to name two winners, giving 2024 to one city and 2028 to the other.

That would solve a big problem for the IOC, which has seen more and more potential hosts shy away over cost concerns.

While Paris has shown no interest in the proposed solution — declaring it would not accept the later Games — L.A. officials have stopped short of delivering an ultimatum, saying only that they remain focused on 2024.

Friday, on their way overseas to the SportAccord convention, they added a warning.

“LA 2024 is an opportunity,” Chairman Casey Wasserman wrote in a German publication influential in the Olympic world. “But as in life, opportunities only exist for brief windows of time.”

Wasserman will be joined by Mayor Eric Garcetti in Denmark, where the candidate cities will be allowed to speak briefly before IOC members and international sports officials.

“LA 2024’s unique offer to the Olympic movement — overwhelming public support, zero-risk budget, a proven Olympic legacy and unparalleled connectivity with youth around the world — isn’t timeless,” Wasserman wrote in Sport Intern, adding: “it must be activated now to give LA 2024 and the IOC seven years to help stabilize the Olympic world.”

Paris is considered a sentimental favorite at this point in the race, if only because 2024 would mark 100 years since it last hosted the Olympics in 1924.

Both cities are well positioned to deliver the Games because both would rely mainly on existing venues, public transit and other infrastructure. LA 2024 would also locate the often-expensive athletes’ village at UCLA, saving on the $1 billion-plus that Paris would have to spend on housing.

So Wasserman and his team are expected to stand at the SportAccord podium and push the idea of L.A. as a cost-efficient option, a cure to the disturbing trend of host cities over-spending.

“LA’s vision for 2024 is relevant now, and cannot wait until 2028,” Wasserman wrote. “Those of us who love the Olympic and Paralympic movement can’t afford more of the same.”

david.wharton@latimes.com

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