Balance beam on the Bay Bridge? Swimming race to Alcatraz? San Francisco is seriously considering a bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics, and today it got an official invitation from the U.S. Olympic Committee to put its best offer on the table.
San Jose got an invitation, too, as part of a list of the 25 biggest cities and 10 serious contenders from the past. But San Jose hasn't made a serious effort to capture the games in the past, while San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has already announced plans.
He told the San Francisco Chronicle on Feb. 1 he is trying to set up a permanent nonprofit organization to help secure the 2024 Olympics, a Super Bowl and other major sporting events.
The city can offer a 17,500-seat basketball arena planned for the waterfront by the Golden State Warriors, an expansion of the Moscone Convention Center, AT&T Park baseball park and Candlestick Park football stadium. In addition, the new Santa Clara football stadium being built by the 49ers as they vacate Candlestick could figure into the bid, along with other professional sports facilities around the region.
San Francisco has approached the USOC several times, including a serious effort for the 2016 games, and rose to the next level as a candidate city to the International Olympic Committee in 1956.