Olympic games

US Olympic Committee (USOC) chairman Larry Probst says the United States wants to bring the Olympic Games back to America in the wake of leading the gold and overall medal tables at London.

"Make no mistake, we do want to bid and we do want to win, but we will only bid if the business logic is as compelling as the sport logic," Probst told the USOC annual assembly last weekend, according to a posting on the USOC website.

The stance comes after the US held off submitting bids for the 2018 Winter and 2020 Summer Olympic Games in the wake of failures by bids from New York for the 2012 Games and Chicago for the 2016 Games.

But a new deal last May between the USOC and International Olympic Committee over US-based broadcast and marketing revenues that runs from 2020 until 2040 removed what Probst called "the largest single impediment to building the kind of international partnerships we've always desired with the Olympic movement."

That could allow the Americans to capitalize on their 46 gold medals and overall haul of 104 medals from London by launching a bid for the 2024 Summer or 2026 Winter Games.

A USOC working group on the bid process will report to the USOC board of directors in December.

"We want the Games back in the United States and we have a number of friends in the international community who want us to host the Games as well," Probst said.

US cities have not hosted the Olympic Games since the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Game and 1996 Atlanta Games.

AFP - Global Times