LOS ANGELES: An International Olympic Committee delegation on Friday lavished praise on Los Angeles's bid for the 2024 Games, stating that there would be "no major risk" if the city was awarded the sporting extravaganza.
Patrick Baumann, the chairman of the IOC's Evaluation Commission, said at the end of a three-day visit that delegates had been left impressed by what they had found in what he described as an "incredible Olympic city."
"Los Angeles is already a great Olympic city but after these three days, we realise that was a great understatement," Baumann said.
"The Olympic spirit is incredibly strong in this city."
Los Angeles, which is competing against Paris for the right to win the Games, has based its bid on an array of iconic venues which already exist or are being built.
Baumann said the readiness of so many venues -- as well as plans to use the campus of UCLA as the athletes' village -- had left a good impression on the IOC team.
"This visit has confirmed our opinion that Los Angeles has developed an excellent proposal and probably, given the facilities that are already here, that seven years of lead time is a luxury," Baumann said.
"In LA there is no major risk that we can highlight in any way right now," Baumann told reporters, adding that commission members had been "ecstatic" to visit proposed venues during the trip.
"It goes from spectacular venues to impressive venues, to mindblowing venues to incredible venues," Baumann said. "That's a very clear and positive thing because you're able to see them (the venues)."
The Evaluation Commission will begin a three-day visit of 2024 rival Paris starting on Sunday, before publishing reports on both bids in early July.
The IOC will then hold a vote in Lima on September 13 to decide which city gets the games.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, one of LA 2024's leaders, meanwhile revealed that private feedback from individual members of the IOC delegation had also been positive.
"One of them said to us: 'We keep looking for the hole in this bid and we can't find it,'" Garcetti told journalists.
Baumann also paid tribute to the work of Garcetti and bid chairman Casey Wasserman, two native Angelenos who witnessed the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics as children, describing them as the "dynamic duo."
"I think that the '1984 boys', Mayor Garcetti and Casey Wasserman, bring a powerful combination of intelligence,