It was a celebration not without surprise when the U.S. Olympic Committee named Boston for its 2024 Summer Games bid.
“Wow, can you believe it?," asked Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.
Walsh is apparently still letting the bid sink in.
"This process will bring our city together and help us take a dramatic step forward," he said. "It’s going to accelerate all the conversations that we need to have about the future.”
Some of those conversations — transportation upgrades, construction — will have to come quickly, as the final application is due to the International Olympic Committee by September. Larry Probst, chair of the United States Olympic Committee, says he believes Boston has a serious shot against Rome, Paris and Berlin, the other cities expected to be finalists.
“If Boston prevails in that competition, we hope that it does, this is going to be a nine-year partnership that plays out from 2015 to 2024,” he said.
There are still few details on the vision the group Boston 2024 has for transforming Boston into an Olympic Village, but officials today gave glimpses — beach volleyball on the Boston Common, an aquatics facility, and turning Franklin Park into an Olympic golf course.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has scheduled nine public meetings in Boston to talk about the 2024 Summer Olympics bid.
