Jan. 09--About a year ago, a U.S. Olympic official told me Boston was an unlikely choice to be an Olympic host candidate because it wasn't an "elevator city."
The official meant Boston was so relatively unknown globally that bringing up its candidature during an elevator ride with one of the International Olympic Committee members who vote for host cities would draw little but quizzical reactions.
Since then, the Boston bid committee for the 2024 Summer Games obviously proved to the USOC that it belonged on what suddenly has become a ride toward the penthouse.
Meeting Thursday in Denver, the USOC board of directors surprisingly chose Boston over finalists Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington as the U.S. candidate for the 2024 Summer Games.
"I think the USA has a very good chance for the Games in 2024," IOC member Gerhard Heiberg of Norway said in a Thursday email.
The USOC was not deterred by the level of public opposition in Boston, where a "No Boston Olympics" group formed last year. The IOC prefers not to have the Olympics in cities where strong opposition could affect preparations.
In an interview last month, USOC chairman Larry Probst called the opposition "a bit of noise" that was welcome pushback and did not concern him.
The Boston bid, which may include a temporary Olympic Stadium, is relying heavily on the area's dozens of universities and colleges, with sports facilities at several likely coming into play. There is a feeling some universities that need new sports facilities might be able to use the cachet of being an Olympic sports venue to attract alumni donations for construction.
"One of Boston's strengths is the support of the educational institutions," Probst told the Tribune last month. "And one of the things most compelling about the Boston venue plan is they are pitching it as a walkable Olympics."
This was the third straight time the USOC has rejected two-time Summer Games host Los Angeles in favor of an international fledgling as U.S. candidate for the Summer Games. Boston never has been a U.S. bidder.
Only three first-time international bidders have won the Summer Games since what Olympic historian Bill Mallon identifies as the beginning of "real voting" -- the 1924 Summer Games. They are Melbourne (1956), Munich (1972) and Atlanta (1996).
"A city that has tried once before and lost has in my opinion a better chance than a newcomer," said Peter Tallberg of Finland, second in seniority among IOC members, in an email.
The declared other candidates are Rome and a German bid involving Berlin, Hamburg or both. South African officials have said they are likely to bid, and Paris, Budapest, Istanbul and Melbourne are discussing candidatures.
Formal application papers do not need to be filed with the IOC until Sept. 15. The IOC executive board will, if necessary, trim the field to about four finalists in the spring of 2016, and the IOC members will choose the winner at their September 2017 annual meeting in Lima, Peru.
More than one-fourth (28) of the IOC's 102 members have been added since the 2009 vote that turned into a second straight humiliating defeat for the U.S. candidate. Probst is one of the newcomers, but IOC members cannot vote when a city from their country remains in contention.
Chicago finished last of the four finalists in that 2009 vote for the 2016 Summer Games, won by Rio. Four years earlier, New York was fourth of five in the voting for 2012, won by London.
Asked what chance a Chicago bid for 2024 would have had in the international campaign, IOC member Richard Pound of Canada said Thursday by email, "I should have thought much better than any other (U.S.) city."
Neither New York nor Chicago has so far been interested in a second try. Both bid plans had flaws, but their defeats owed less to such issues than they they did to resentment toward the United States over both general antagonism about U.S. politics and specific revenue-sharing issues between the IOC and USOC.
"Chicago was a wonderful candidate for 2016 that suffered very much from the strained relationship between USOC and IOC," said IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. of Spain, son of the late IOC president, in a Friday email. "Boston will also be a formidable contender, specially now that the institutional relationships are in good shape. "
The USOC leadership wisely decided to refrain from bidding again until they stitched up tattered international relations and signed a new revenue-sharing deal.
"My feeling is that regardless of which American city will be picked by (the) USOC, the chances are very good," Tallberg said, "since the movement very soon needs an American city after the Asian show."
The three Olympics after 2016 are all in Asia: Pyeongchang, South Korea (2018 Winter); Tokyo (2020 Summer); and either Beijing or Almaty, Kazakhstan (2022 Winter, to be picked July 31).
"I thought the Chicago plan was a good one," said IOC member Craig Reedie of Great Britain, a member of the 2016 bid evaluation committee, in an email. "Cities by water are always attractive.
"I have been encouraging the USOC for some time now to come back into the bidding business as I believe that the IOC will welcome a good US bid for 2024 -- and that it will be strong."
Chicago also was widely perceived as being a favorite, but secret balloting allows IOC members to say things for public consumption and have a different opinion when they vote.
"NOCs (national Olympic committees) should resist believing everything they hear from different members of the IOC," Reedie said.
Whether on elevators or not.
