US Olympic leaders surprisingly cast their future with Boston, hoping a compact, university-centric bid with a touching story to tell will overshadow the city’s well-organised protest group and convince international voters to bring the Summer Games to America after a 28-year gap.
During a daylong meeting on Thursday at the Denver airport, United States Olympic Committee (USOC) board members chose Boston, with its promise of frugality, reusable venues and inspiration after its comeback from Boston Marathon bombings, over los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington.
“Today’s selection by the USOC is the beginning of an incredible opportunity for Boston,” said the city’s bid chairman, John Fish, who will be part of a celebratory news conference Friday with the USOC leadership.
Boston, the biggest city in the northeastern New England region, joins Rome as the only other city that has officially decided to bid. Germany will submit either Hamburg or Berlin, with France and Hungary among those also considering bids. The International Olympic Committee will award the Games in 2017.
One task the USOC has to start on immediately is introducing Boston to the world.
Though well-known for the marathon, it isn’t a huge dot on the worldwide map. Often, however, that can work in a city’s favor, as it gets to define itself rather than come in with tons of pre-existing notions.
America’s last two attempts to land the Games resulted in embarrassments — fourth-place finishes for New York (2012) and Chicago (2016).
The selection of one of the most historic American cities comes as something of a shock to insiders, who viewed two-time host los Angeles as the safest choice and San Francisco as the sexiest. But a compact bid highlighted by a frugal spending plan outweighed doubts that surfaced because of the city’s organized protest group and less-than-perfect history in delivering big projects.