USC could help LA’s bid for the Olympics

Los Angeles 2024 announced earlier this week that it has selected the University Park Campus as its Media Village, which would house members of the media, officials and stakeholders during the Games should the city be given the nod to host. The newly publicized plan also includes UCLA’s campus becoming the home of the Olympic Village, where all athletes and team officials would be lodged in its residential facilities.

Without USC, Los Angeles’s bid would be incomplete. The money the university is putting into projects including the USC Village and the Coliseum further strengthens their bid, and it only helps that the surrounding area will also be fully developed.

It’s nice to see the two crosstown rivals team up every once in a while for a greater cause, and both schools will undoubtedly play a tremendous role should the Games be awarded to L.A. when the International Olympic Committee votes in September 2017. With downtown Los Angeles expected to be presented as the unofficial epicenter of the Games themselves, though, the spotlight would focus more on and around USC, not UCLA, and rightfully so.

USC boasts a rich Olympic history. The University Park campus housed athletes during the 1984 Games and the school has produced over 400 Olympians and almost 300 Olympic Medals. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which is controlled and operated by USC, served as the site of the opening and closing ceremonies at both the 1932 and 1984 Games. The iconic venue, which also previously hosted athletics events in the Games, is located right in the heart of Exposition Park, adjacent to USC. Perhaps most importantly, the Coliseum is scheduled to undergo a proposed $270 million in major renovations and upgrades that would be expected to be completed by 2019.

“USC takes great pride in its Olympic heritage, and there is tremendous excitement across the entire university community about our role in Los Angeles’ 2024 Olympic bid,” President C. L. Max Nikias said. “Just as we did in 1984, USC will play host to a number of high profile sporting events at our state-of-the-art athletic facilities.”

The newly revamped Coliseum would more than likely play host to its third opening and closing ceremonies, while the Galen Center would also entertain international competition.

The brand-new, 15-acre USC Village, which will play a role in accommodating those at the Media Village, is scheduled to open in Fall 2017 and would have the opportunity to vault the University straight onto the global forefront.

“As a USC alum, I’m proud that the media, officials and other supporters of the athletes will have the opportunity to call USC’s world-class campus home during the Games,” LA24 Vice Chair and director of athlete relations Janet Evans said.

Don’t forget that as at least one NFL team is making the move to Los Angeles in 2016, a 300-acre, multi-billion dollar, state-of-the-art stadium complex will be breaking ground just a few miles away from downtown L.A. in Inglewood. And if that wasn’t enough, the newly founded Los Angeles Football Club is building a 22,000 seat soccer-specific venue, located on the land that was home to the former Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, adjacent to the Coliseum.

The world-class venues that are currently present and those that are set to be built in the surrounding USC community, in addition to those the facilities already exist or are expected to go up on campus, signify the ideal fusion between the past and the future when it comes to Los Angeles serving as the home of the world’s grandest sporting event.

This goes hand-in-hand with LA24’s “Back to the Future” vision, which aims to trace some roots back to the 1984 Los Angeles Games, while still showcasing the future of the city, in hopes of leaving a forward-facing, lasting legacy.

Just a little over 30 years ago, Los Angeles dazzled on the world stage for two weeks, hosting one of the most successful games ever, thanks largely in part to the hospitality of USC. Fast forward a few decades later, the University is again a major stakeholder in making sure history repeats itself.

Darian Nourian is a senior majoring in print and digital journalism. His column, “Persian Persuasion,” runs Thursdays.