Joe Rull was a major player on both sides of the pro-Olympics machine: both as chief of operations in Mayor Marty Walsh's City Hall and later as chief administrative officer for Boston 2024.

A Walsh loyalist if there ever was one, Rull spoke to WGBH News and said he understands the decision the mayor made to refuse any kind of taxpayer liability for funding the games.

"He's the mayor of all of Boston and that's a decision he had to make," Rull said. "There's no disappointment there at all. He showed his own independence."

Rull said he's already received work offers from various public and private organizations but isn't yet sure what path he'll take.

"I feel like I've got a pretty good reputation out there and I'm confident I'll land on my feet," Rull said.

Though he's staying positive and taking time now to be with his family, Rull said he is disappointed that the bid failed.

"We had a good product," he said. "We just had not enough time. We were trying to do too much too soon with the whole bid."

"At the end of the day, the residents spoke and there were definite concerns out there," Rull added. "I felt this was the right thing to do to help Boston overall."

"There's no bitterness that we lost," he said, adding that the opponents of the bid did well in their own campaign.

Rull's concerns now lay in making sure the young staff of Boston 2024 all land on their feet. He doesn't want the Olympics experience to damper anyone's enthusiasm for public campaigns or this kind of large-scale effort.

"In my career, I've taken chances all along," he said. "Sometimes you just gotta do that."

Loose End: City Hall's Office of Olympic Planning

In April, Walsh hired Sara Myerson to operate the new Boston Office of Olympic Planning. Myerson's annual $115,000 salary was to be reimbursed by the private Boston 2024 organization. Walsh's communications director, Laura Oggeri, told WGBH News Myerson is continuing her work reviewing the Boston 2024 plan with the goal of integrating the proposals in the city's Imagine Boston 2030 discussion.

Boston's quadrennial celebration is coming in 15 years and there's no international committees that can stop that party from happening. But the city's going to have to pay for it now. Myerson's salary will now come from the coffers of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the part of City Hall that oversaw the Olympics office, according to Oggeri.

Loose End: Boston 2024

The organization that came in like a lion, bringing together some of Massachusetts's brightest minds, inspiring leaders and deepest pockets, is going out like a lamb. Now that the bid is kaput, Boston 2024 will wind down their operation and issue a final report on the dream that was.

"We will now be winding down the Boston 2024 Partnership and, in doing so, will look for tangible and intangible ways to ensure these efforts leave a positive legacy for the City as it plans for a bright future," Boston 2024 COO Erin Murphy told WGBH News in a statement.

Murphy thanked all the funders, staff and boosters who believed in bringing the Olympics to Boston.

"In many respects, this was a true community partnership and involved the tireless efforts of many, many Bostonians," she said.