LOS ANGELES (CNS) — The odds of Los Angeles being chosen as the site of the 2024 Summer Olympics appeared to have improved following the decision by Hamburg to withdraw from contention.
Hamburg withdrew Nov. 29 after a slim majority of citizens in the German city voted in a referendum not to support the bid.
“The result is bitter for us,” bid leader Nikolas Hill said in remarks reported by the Los Angeles Times, adding that “without the majority support of the citizens of Hamburg in 2024 we will not bring the Olympic and Paralympic Games to our city.”
Los Angeles and Paris remain as the front-runners, with Rome and Budapest, Hungary, also in the race. The International Olympic Committee is scheduled to select a 2024 host in the summer of 2017.
Jeff Millman, spokesman for LA 2024, Los Angeles’ Olympics bid committee, said members of the Hamburg bid committee were “great colleagues and competitors.”
He said LA 2024’s focus will continue to be “harnessing our innovation, creativity and proven sports heritage in designing our bid” to bring the Olympics to Los Angeles “for the first time in 28 years.”