The Olympic Games are often called The Greatest Show on Earth, although hosting them can come with a heavy burden.
As a result, after the next Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 2020, only two strong candidates had emerged from the bidding for the 2024 Olympic Games: Paris and Los Angeles.
Boston, Hamburg, Rome and Budapest all withdrew, fearing the costs associated with the Games and a lack of public support.
Now, in an unprecedented move, preliminary agreement has been reached to award the 2024 and 2028 Summer Games simultaneously, to Paris and Los Angeles, respectively.
Paris 2024 bid leader Tony Estanguet says every effort will be made to ensure those Games leave a lasting legacy in the city.
"We looked at the success of the Games in London, and, for sure, the fact that London succeeded in leaving a strong legacy, a physical legacy in the east of London, was very important for us. So, with Paris 2024, we will manage to get a physical legacy, a tangible legacy, but also a legacy in terms of education, in terms of inspiration, in terms of making sure that those people will benefit directly (from) the Games."
Massive price tags, like the $51 billion spent by Russia on the 2014 Winter Games, and images of decay, like the unused venues from Rio 2016, have left potential hosts very hesitant.
A central part of Los Angeles's bid was that the city has existing venues and is better equipped than most to wait out a decade-long run up to 2028.
Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti says the city is one of the great capitals of the Olympic movement, having hosted the Games in 1932 and 1984.
"A little more than four years ago, on my first day as mayor, I wrote as my first act a letter to the United States Olympics Committee saying we wanted to bring the Olympics back. I told them that LA was ready to host the Olympics again, that you would find the greatest sports city anywhere on the face of the earth and, more than that, the fans who support this movement and who have shown time and time again that we can re-imagine the Games for a new generation."
The Los Angeles bid is privately funded but will remain vulnerable to the fluctuations of the global economy.
A resident of the city, Domenic Ferrante, suggests past experience shows the Games could provide a boost.
"It was a great thing the last time we had it here in LA, and I think it will be a boon for business and just kind of bring unity back to LA."
But another resident, Carlos Esparza, says there are both pros and cons to hosting the event.
"(It's) both good and bad, because there's going to be a lot of traffic, more people, but, also, as a city, we can grow more, with different cultures and other people."
The two cities will not be officially confirmed as hosts until the International Olympic Committee votes at its congress in Lima, Peru, on September 13.
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