The United States Olympic Committee wants to host the 2016 Summer Games and later this year plans to nominate either Chicago or Los Angeles as its contender in the competition to host the event, the organisation said on Tuesday.
The organisation has been considering an attempt to host the games for 18 months and decided a US bid would be competitive internationally, chairperson Peter Ueberroth said in a statement.
”Based on our analysis, we believe the time is right for a US city to bid, and we fully intend to proceed with a unified, national effort to bring the Games back to America in 2016,” he said.
Five US cities expressed interest in hosting the games and the organisation narrowed the field to Chicago and Los Angeles.
Those cities will formally submit their bids later this month and the committee will announce its choice for the official US bid on April 14.
The International Olympic Committee will decide the host of the 2016 games in October 2009.
The US hosted the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2002 and hosted the Summer games in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1996. — Sapa-dpa