The United States Olympic Committee has withdrawn Boston 2024’s bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, citing the lack of public support, according to a statement released by USOC Chief Executive Officer Scott Blackmun.
Franklin Park was slated to host several Olympic events, such as the pentathlon and equestrian events.
NoBoston2024, an anti-Olympics protest group, held its first meeting in Jamaica Plain last year and the neighborhood came out against the bid effort during a City-held community meeting in June.
Chris Hoeh of the Franklin Park Area Stop Boston Olympics group said he is “ecstatic” and that it is a “tremendous relief” that the USOC has ended Boston 2024’s bid. He said he was worried he would have to spend years fighting the bid effort.
Hoeh also criticized Mayor Martin Walsh for saying during a press conference this morning that the opposition was ten people on Twitter. He said that the opposition was raising questions that the mayor should have been asking.
“We took the time to really look into this,” said Hoeh.
He said that now that the Olympic bid effort is over, he can attend a youth soccer meeting tomorrow night instead of going to a scheduled City-held Olympic meeting in Mattapan. Hoeh said the “one good thing” that came out of the bid effort was that he connected with other people who want to spend “a lot of time and energy” into “building a better Boston.”
Blackmun said in the statement that despite the “promise” of the original bid and the “soundness” of bid 2.0, the majority of Boston residents have not supported the effort. He said that the level of support enjoyed by the bid would not allow it to prevail over other bids from Paris, Rome, Hamburg, Budapest or Toronto.
“Boston 2024 has expressed confidence that, with more time, they could generate the public support necessary to win the bid and deliver a great Games,” said Blackmun. “They also recognize, however, that we are out of time if the USOC is going to be able to consider a bid from another city. As a result, we have reached a mutual agreement to withdraw Boston’s bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
Blackmun said that the USOC would still like to see a United States city host the 2024 Olympics.