Every city that puts in a bid to hold the Olympics tries to put itself in the best possible light. Los Angeles has outdone itself.
In a video released Monday, promotion officials billed the City of Angels as the “western capital of the U.S., the northern capital of Latin America and the eastern capital of the Pacific Rim.”
The over-exaggeration is no joke — Los Angeles isn’t even the capital of California. And the need to promote L.A. as capital of somewhere — anywhere — is fairly obvious when you consider the competition: Budapest, capital of Hungary; Paris, capital of France; and Rome, capital of Italy. Hamburg, Germany is in the running as well.
Once D.C, capital of the United States, was booted from the list of potential U.S. host-city sites and Boston dropped out, L.A. ran away with its self-promotion.
In addition to boasting of L.A. being a capital extraordinaire, the promotional video includes scenes of iconic, eye-catching sites.
The website LA24, made to pump L.A. up as a cultural mecca and the perfect spot to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, also includes a statement from Mayor Eric Garcetti.
“Hosting the Games in Los Angeles would give our city the chance to show the world how much has changed in 40 years,” Mr. Garcetti says, underscoring 1984, the last time LA hosted the Games. “This bid is a bold vision for an innovative, sustainable and inspiring Los Angeles 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games that will benefit our community, the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Movement.”
The International Olympic Committee is scheduled to name the 2024 host city in 2017.
• Deborah Simmons can be reached at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.
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