Budapest Drops 2024 Olympic Bid, Leaving LA And Paris In The Race

LOS ANGELES, CA — The contest to host the 2024 Summer Olympics is down to two contenders — Los Angeles and Paris — after Budapest withdrew its bid Wednesday, according to international media reports. Long thought to be the top contenders, Los Angeles and Paris will continue vying for the honor.

Budapest has had waning public support for the bid in recent weeks whereas Los Angeles has gone full court press in the effort to impress the selection committee.

"As LA 2024 enters the international campaign, it's important for us as a city to remember just what we're bidding for: the world's greatest sporting event, significant economic benefits, and a chance to place L.A.'s extraordinary creativity and innovation at the service of the Olympic Movement," Mayor Eric Garcetti has said. "But perhaps above all else, Los Angeles is bidding to unite the youth of the world in friendship and peace through sport in 2024."

LA 2024 has proposed a privately financed, balanced budget of $5.3 billion for the Games, although Los Angeles must cover any budget shortfalls.

A core part of the balanced budget plan is to only use existing venues like the Coliseum and Staples Center and not build any new permanent buildings just for the Games, and to capitalize on the billions of transportation improvements the city already has planned.

However, recent reports in the media have suggested that President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration -- which included banning travel to the United States from seven Muslim-majority countries-- may significantly harm L.A.'s bid.

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City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.