Los Angeles 2024 include proposed skateboarding venue as part of updated bid book

A skateboarding venue has been included as part of Los Angeles 2024's updated bid book ©Getty Images

Los Angeles’ candidacy for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games features a proposed venue for skateboarding located in the Coastal Cluster, the Bid Committee revealed when publishing new details of their plans yesterday.

Santa Monica, the area where the venue would be located, is synonymous with the sport as it played host to many of the early skateboarding competitions in the 1970s.

A decision to incorporate a skateboarding venue into may be viewed as premature by Los Angeles as the sport has not yet been accepted onto the Olympic programme as part of the International Roller Sports Federation’s (FIRS) bid for inclusion for Tokyo 2020.

The Californian city itself is considered the home of skateboarding and could, therefore, encourage FIRS to use the sport to bid again if Los Angeles is chosen to host the Olympics for a third time.

Los Angeles is already planning for the inclusion of skateboarding if the city is awarded the 2024 Olympics ©LA24

In the new bid book, Los Angeles 2024 say a skateboarding venue will take approximately two months to construct and will be a temporary structure.

Other sports to be staged in the area include volleyball, triathlon, cycling time trial and open water swimming.

insidethegames exclusively revealed that skateboarding and inline speed skating were the two disciplines put forward by FIRS for inclusion at Tokyo 2020 during a crucial presentation at the beginning of August in the Japanese capital.

Skateboarding itself is not eligible to apply as an individual sport because neither of the sport’s two governing bodies - the International Skateboarding Federation or the World Skateboarding Federation - are recognised by the IOC.

The temporary skateboarding venue would be built as part of the Coastal Cluster, which includes Santa Monica beach — A temporary skateboarding venue would be built as part of the Coastal Cluster, which includes Santa Monica beach, if Los Angeles are awarded the 2024 Olympics ©Getty Images

FIRS, however, appear to be prepared to use the sport’s popularity and the determination of the IOC to add it to the programme in order to help plead their case for inline speed skating, part of the World Games since their inception in 1981.

Los Angeles was recently announced as the United States Olympic Committee’s (USOC) preferred bid city following their decision to pull Boston’s attempt at staging the Games.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has already guaranteed that he will sign the controversial Host City contract which his counterpart in Boston, Marty Walsh, refused to do - leading to the collapse of that city's bid.

If Los Angeles City Council vote today to rubber stamp the bid for 2024 then the United States Olympic Committee are expected to formally submit it to the International Olympic Committee by the deadline of September 15.

Los Angeles 2024’s updated bid book also includes a budget of $713 million (£454 million/€619 million) to be spent on upgrading or building new facilities.

insidethegames has contacted FIRS and the World Skateboarding Federation for comment but has yet to receive a response.