Los Angeles — which is one of the best cities this country has to offer, and one of the best that the world has to offer — is now the likely favorite to land the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Rome, who was a strong contender to land the games, is dropping their bid for the 2024 games. Now, Los Angeles will be competing with Paris and Budapest to host the Olympics in eight years. The likelihood of going into debt in building a velodrome and a beach volleyball arena were two of the main reasons for Rome withdrawing their name for consideration, according to Mashable:

Raggi said it would be financially “irresponsible” to pursue the bid any further given the city is barely able to get its trash picked up. She highlighted the debts that previous Olympic host cities have incurred and the unfinished infrastructure already blighting Rome from previous sporting bids as reasons to justify the withdrawal.

“In light of the data we have, these Olympics are not sustainable. They will bring only debt,” she said. “We don’t want sports to become another pretext for more cement foundations in the city. We won’t allow it.”

That’s a pretty honest and responsible thing for Rome to have done. The Olympics are obviously a huge draw since it’s a world event that doesn’t happen every year. It’s also been proven in recent Olympics that spending a lot of money to hold the Games hasn’t been great for host cities.

The Los Angeles 2024 website is pretty sweet, and there’s no question they’ll be the strongest candidate moving forward. They’ve hosted before, and well, it’s LA.

[Mashable]

About Harry Lyles Jr.

Harry Lyles Jr. is an Atlanta-based writer, and a Georgia State University graduate.