I am not a big fan of the Olympics; this year, it was more irksome than ever.
And while I am breathing a sigh of relief that the Paris Olympics is over, I am bracing myself for the much closer Los Angeles games in 2028. My hometown of San Diego hosted a few events back in 1984, so I will be much more directly impacted next time.
I can only hope there are no drag queen orgies for the opening ceremony.
That being said, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has an intriguing goal for the next event. She wants to have “no car” games.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass on Saturday promised that the city was working to expand public transportation to the point that the 2028 Summer Olympics could be a “no-car” Games when they come to town.She says that on top of the new transportation, she would encourage businesses to allow employees to work from home during the 17 days that the games were in the area, hopeful to avoid traffic jams.Bass was in Paris with other Los Angeles city officials to participate in the closing ceremonies of the 2024 Summer Olympics, where she was given the Olympic flag.”As we’ve seen here in Paris, the Olympics are an opportunity to make transformative change,” Bass said while speaking on Saturday. “It’s our top priority to ensure that the Olympic preparations benefit Angelenos for decades to come. … We want to make sure that we’re helping small businesses, that we’re creating local jobs and making lasting environmental and transportation improvements throughout Los Angeles.”
Given the sprawl of the Los Angeles area, this goal will cost billions to achieve. Bass’ plans appear to rely on buses.
Moving thousands of spectators across the sprawling Californian city poses a huge challenge for organisers – with current hopes for car-free transit pinned on a fleet of buses, after plans for a major rail network upgrade fizzled out, according to the Los Angeles Times.Nor will it come cheap.The most recent budget forecasts expenditure of nearly $7bn (£5.5bn) on the Games themselves, in addition to any transport upgrades.
I will simply point out that electric buses have been less than reliable, and if Los Angeles officials take this direction in this sustainability quest, it is likely to prove problematic.
Furthermore, the city’s transit system has had a massive spike in crime, which could make the experience less than appealing for Olympic athletes and their fans.
A motion will be introduced Thursday at a meeting of Metro leaders aimed at increasing safety to combat a spike in violent crime on Los Angeles’ transit system.The motion will be presented a week after Los Angeles Mayor and Metro Board of Directors Chair Karen Bass said she ordered an immediate surge in law enforcement on Metro trains and buses.Bass said the motion will increased public safety personnel on the system and establish a unified command designed to police the system, which has seen a 65-percent jump in total crime in the first three months of 2024, according to new data.
Forty years ago, Los Angeles set a new standard on how the games could be run and succeed.
Los Angeles’ successful bid for the 1984 Olympics marked a turning point in the history of the Games, showcasing a financially viable model, which emphasized private funding, sponsorship deals, and the use of existing infrastructure. The LA Games in 1984 reshaped the Olympic model for future events in the years that followed.It also introduced several new events aimed at increasing female participation and new technology that increased allowed better communication between athletes and improved efficiency.The 1984 Games made a profit of over $200 million, becoming “the only Olympics in history to present a truly positive financial balance sheet,” Olympic Games expert and historian Kevin Wamsley told Newsweek.
It will be interesting to see what happens in four years. I suspect it will not be the same level of success enjoyed in 1984.
I hope for a more tasteful opening ceremony and the USA dominates the medal count.
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