WASHINGTON – The opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics are just six days away with the eyes of the world on Sochi, Russia.
But some local business executives are thinking ahead to the 2024 Olympics and vying for the chance for the nation’s capital to host the summer games.
The U.S. Olympic Committee is hoping to improve on it’s efforts when hopes were shattered to bring the summer games to New York in 2012 and Chicago in 2016.
Assistant Managing Editor Greg Otto of the Washington Business Journal says some facilities are already in place to host the games but additional structures are needed.
“A velodrom would have to be built,” Otto says. “A national aquatic center and an Olympic Village.”
Otto projects the cost of bringing the Olympic games onto U.S. soil at upwards of $50 to $60 million.
There are also hurdles to jump including persuading the residents of the region that hosting the Olympic Games wouldn’t produce a traffic nightmare.
The 2016 Summer Olympics will be held in Rio de Janeiro.
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