Mayor Edwin M. Lee today issued the following statement on the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) advancing San Francisco as a potential U.S. city to bid for and host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games:

“I am thrilled by the United States Olympic Committee’s expression of support for San Francisco and the Bay Area’s potential to bid for and host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The San Francisco Bay Area has a long history of enthusiasm for the Games and for mounting credible and compelling bids to host them in our region. Strong bids for the 2012 and 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games demonstrated our City and our region’s ability to come together around a shared vision for Olympic and Paralympic sport that would bring lasting benefits to the Bay Area. We have proven we can successfully host the world’s biggest events, including the MLB World Series in 2010 and 2012, the America’s Cup in 2013 and Super Bowl 50 in 2016. I believe no place on earth better represents the true values and spirit of the Olympic and Paralympic movements than the San Francisco Bay Area. We are entrepreneurs and innovators in business, art, social justice and sport. We celebrate the power of the individual and draw strength from our diversity.

For the last year, a small group of civic leaders with deep Olympic ties and experience have held quiet, preliminary discussions with the USOC about the City and region’s potential to once again bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and return them to the United States in 2024. Today, the USOC has given San Francisco the opportunity to continue those discussions, and I enthusiastically support taking the next step toward exploring a potential San Francisco Bay Area bid for the 2024 Games.

I believe that the San Francisco Bay Area could transform the 2024 Games through our technology and diversity, and the natural splendor of our region. Hosting the Games could also inspire and positively transform our region, accelerating and delivering tremendous long-term benefits that help meet our most pressing challenges, including thousands of units of new affordable housing, improved transportation, jobs, new parks and athletic facilities for our residents.

But serious work and a thorough review of the responsibilities and benefits that come with bidding for and hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games remain ahead. Ultimately, we should only move forward with a bid if we believe that we can win for America, deliver spectacular Games for the world and leave a tremendous legacy for the Bay Area’s economy, transportation systems, housing and youth. I am grateful for the opportunity to consider a potential San Francisco Bay Area bid for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and look forward to working with the USOC, with my fellow mayors in Oakland, San Jose and other cities, and with people from throughout the Bay Area in this exploratory phase.”