The United States Olympic Committee sent a letter to Mayor Bob Filner on Tuesday to see if the city would be interested in hosting the Olympics in 2024.
San Diego, along with 34 other U.S. cities, were mailed letters by the committee to see if they would want to accommodate the international athletic competition.
“Our objective in this process is to identify a partner city that can work with us to present a compelling bid to the IOC and that has the right alignment of political, business and community leadership,” USOC CEO Scott Blackmun said in the letter. “This letter does not guarantee that the USOC will bid for the 2024 Games, but rather is an initial step in evaluating a potential bid.”
The letter also included a list of requirements, stating the cities should have enough hotel space and a good public transportation network. The city would also have to build an Olympic Village large enough to support more than 30,000 athletes and members of the media.
Other California cities considered by the USOC are Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco and San Jose. Los Angeles has hosted two Olympics before, in 1932 and 1984. The U.S. has not hosted the Olympics since 2002 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Former San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce Chairman Vincent Mudd is pushing for a 2032 Olympic bid for America’s Finest City.
“San Diego has earned the right to represent the nation as the place to be,” Mudd told NBC 7 San Diego last week. “The Olympic Games are a terrific place to drive economic development and growth in the region.”
The final vote for the host city of 2024 will not take place until 2017.
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