BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) – Boston won the US Olympic bid to host the 2024 Summer Games and now faces other international cities that also aim to host them.
The Olympic Committee met Thursday before announcing the decision. The committee looked at four locations, Boston, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and Los Angeles. Beantown was chosen out of the four and will utilize existing facilities in or near the city's center.
The committee said the decision "followed a spirited discussion and more than one round of voting."
They toured all four locations last December after a long elimination process that started with about 35 cities.
âToday's decision begins the next phase in our 2024 bid campaign, and we couldn't be more excited about the partnership we've established with the leadership team in Boston,â USOC CEO Scott Blackmun said in a recent release. âThis bid uniquely combines an exciting, athlete-focused concept for hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games with Boston's existing long-term vision.â
Mayor Marty Walsh spoke only with Fox 25 Thursday night, saying that the USOC called him personally to tell him they felt Boston's proposal would give the US the best shot at hosting the Summer Games.
"I was excited," he said. "It was like 'Oh my God' this is big, this is big news for the City of Boston. We are being seen as a world class Olympic city now and there's not many people who can say that and Boston's one of them."
In a statement released Thursday night, Walsh said it was "an exceptional honor" and that the goal for Boston is to host an "Olympic and Paralympic Games that are innovative, walkable and hospitable to all."
According to the Mayor's office, when the news broke, applause echoed throughout the corridors of City Hall. However, not everyone is clapping.
Councilman Charles Yancey says he reserving judgement, for now.
"I want to build a couple of schools before we bring the Olympics here and I think we can so if that's done, I'll be on board 100 percent," he said.
The grassroots organization No Boston Olympics says they're disappointed with the decision and wish the public had a chance to weigh in.
"There's a number of a concerns but I think one of the big ones is the cost over runs every Olympics since 1960 has gone over budget and had a cost overrun and we think the same thing is going to happen here and taxpayers will be on the hook for it," spokesperson Chris Dempsy said.
The Boston 2024 Committee is lead by some of Boston's most well-known business leaders including Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish. He released a statement Thursday, saying that the Olympics in Boston could be "one of the most innovative, sustainable and exciting in history and will inspire the next generation of leaders here and around the world."
Fish said he would recuse himself and his company from any Olympic-related construction.
The committee and Walsh will hold a press conference Friday morning to talk about where Boston will go from here.
The International Olympic Committee's deadline for 2024 bid submissions is Sept. 15, 2015 and the ultimate location for the Games will be determined in 2017.
The Summer Games have been held in the US in previous years, including Atlanta in 1996, St. Louis in 1904 and Los Angeles in both 1932 and 1984.