RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR)–Washington D.C. will make another Olympic bid, this time for the 2024 summer Olympics, and Richmond would host events if DC wins the bid, according to organizers.
On Tuesday, Bob Sweeney, president of the Greater Washington Sports Alliance, announced the formation of the nonprofit group DC 2024, who aim is to submit a bid.
The bid would include venues in the Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. area. The Washington Post reports that the last bid D.C. made, led by another organization, for the 2012 Olympics cost $10 million. That bid included a partnership between Baltimore and D.C.
The Summer Games have not been hosted in the United States since the 1996 games in Atlanta and the last Olympics hosted where the Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Sweeney said that events would stretch from Baltimore to Richmond, but would be mostly concentrated around D.C.
DC 2024 estimates that the costof hosting the 2024 Olympic Games will be between $4 and 6 billion using existing stadiums in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. The bid has a long way to go yet.
The AP reports that Washington was one of 35 U.S. cities contacted the U.S. Olympic Committee, and Sweeney expects about 10 to step forward as serious candidates.
“We are the safest and most secure city in the world,” Sweeney told the Associated Press. “The largest expense of any Olympic Games is security, and the fact that we’ve got it pretty built in to our everyday life here in Washington, we would leverage that asset tremendously to put on this high-profile event.”
CBS 6 has reached out to Sports Backers and will continue to update this story.
