LA, DC, SF, Boston? U.S. Pick For Olympic Host May Come Thursday

Officials in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and Washington have been awaiting a decision from the U.S. Olympic Committee on which of the four will be the American entry to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. Their wait may come to an end this week.

The U.S. Olympic Committee announced today that its board of directors will meet to discuss the four cities' bids Thursday at Denver International Airport — and then possibly travel to the winning city to hold a news conference, if it makes a final choice, as many expect. The USOC had narrowed its list down to the four finalists in June.

Here's how the gambling website Bovada ranked the contenders, back in December, according to CBS San Francisco:

• Los Angeles – 1:1 odds
• Boston – 2:1 odds
• San Francisco – 4:1 odds
• Washington – 7:1 odds

NPR's Howard Berkes reports that this is considered the best opportunity for the U.S. since Salt Lake City was named host of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Still, he reports, an American bid for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic games will have stiff competition, including Rome, a yet-to-be-named German city, and possibly Paris or South Africa. IOC members like to take "Olympism," as they call it, to new places, and Africa never has hosted an Olympics.