PARIS– From the City of Love to the City of Angels, planning for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics is well underway and organizers are paying close attention to what has and hasn’t worked so far in Paris.
It will be Third time Los Angeles hosts the Olympics – the last time was 40 years ago – and it was the first time it hosted the Paralympic Games.
Janet Evans remembers sitting in the stands at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during the opening ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics when she was 12 years old.
“I remember seeing those athletes marching behind their country’s flags in their beautiful opening ceremony uniforms and thinking, ‘I want to do that,’” Evans said.
That was before she won four gold medals and set world records as a U.S. Olympic swimmer. Now, as athletic director for LA2028, the organizing committee bringing the games to Los Angeles, she is focused on giving a voice to athletes and their concerns.
“Having lived in three Olympic Villages and having competed in three Olympic Games… it’s really important to understand what athletes are experiencing,” Evans said.
Much of the focus will be on hearing from athletes about their concerns after the Games are over. But Evans said some of the concerns that have arisen in recent weeks — reports of uncomfortable beds, limited air conditioning and food shortages – will not be a problem in Los Angeles, which plans to house athletes on the UCLA campus.
“We feed thousands of students a day. UCLA welcomes thousands of students a day and so we are tried, tested and proven,” she said. “I eat the food at least once a week at UCLA, which is delicious.
As for concerns specific to Los Angeles, the main concern for many is the congested traffic on the highways and streets of the City of Dreams and Hollywood.
Evans said the plan is to work around some challenges by making deliveries to athletes late at night, work with companies to implement a more robust work-from-home plan for employees in the Southern California region during the Games, and institute “track Olympics” to ensure that athletes can “get from point A to point B faster”.
The official transfer to Los Angeles will take place on Sunday night, during the closing ceremony in Paris. Evans hopes that growth over the next four years and the Los Angeles opening ceremony will inspire a new generation of moviegoers to follow their dreams.
“That’s what the Olympics do – they change people’s lives,” Evans said. “I think that’s why everyone loves the Olympics. It brings people together.”
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