Looks like we know who was streaming the Olympics at City Hall.
Like many Angelenos, city councilman Tom LaBonge is suffering Olympics broadcasting withdrawal -- enough that he's starting a bid to bring the games back to LA in 2032.
LaBonge announced the effort Tuesday at a city council meeting, reports KPCC. In making the case for Los Angeles, he drew attention to USC and UCLA's medal winners (25 and 12, respectively) and praised NASA's "Curiosity" mission.
The councilman is expected to present a formal motion to the city council Friday. He will call for LA to "explore a future bid," reports the Daily News.
"Los Angeles has the weather and the history," LaBonge said in a statement to the Daily News. "And now, with 45 London medals to Los Angeles' name, we have the athletes, too."
Compared to other states, California took home the most medals after the London Olympics, and Southern California did most of the heavy lifting (better luck next time, HuffPost SF).
A Facebook page from 2010 reveals that other Angelenos have been thinking about the next LA Olympics long before LaBonge was. Called, "Los Angeles 2032 Olympics," the page asks fans, "Will you stand idle, or emerge with Los Angeles"?
While it may seem strange for councilmembers and others to float Olympic bid ideas decades beforehand, a lot of infrastructure needs to be completed before hosting an event of that magnitude. The LA Coliseum opened for business in 1923, and plans for AEG's Farmers Field stadium in downtown LA still aren't a sure bet until an NFL team can commit to the city.
Of course, global competition to host the games also necessitates years of planning from the eventual host city. LaBonge alludes to this in a draft of the motion, obtained by Daily News:
While other great cities of the world will be competing for consideration, perhaps from the African continent, it is the hope of Angelenos to one day host, for a third time, the Olympic Games.
LA has already hosted the Olympics twice; once in 1932 and again in 1984. If the city were to win the bid for 2032, Angelenos would also be able to mark a 100 year milestone.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the coliseum was built for the 1984 Olympics. We apologize for the error.
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