Los Angeles — up against Rome, Paris, and Budapest — says it's the 'risk-free' choice for the 2024 Olympics

The mayor of Los Angeles says the city is the "risk-free" choice to host the 2024 Olympics.

"Our Olympic infrastructure is already in the ground, not on the drawing boards," Eric Garcetti said Tuesday. "We are virtually risk-free because we only have to build one venue to host the Games. Instead of construction anxieties for the next seven years, we can focus on what's important." The U.S. last hosted a Summer Olympics in Atlanta in 1996, and Los Angeles is up against Paris, Rome, and Budapest for the 2024 Games; the host city will be chosen in September 2017.

Brazil was plagued with problems in the run-up to the Olympics, from the threat of Zika virus to slow construction of venues to a political crisis involving the country's president. Garcetti says 88 percent of locals are in favor of having the Olympics, and because there would be so little construction, the Olympics would be a big moneymaker; in 1984, the Los Angeles Games had a profit of $225 million. "We're very confident that our plan reduces risks dramatically and can produce a profit for the city," bid chairman Casey Wasserman said. "Our job is to deliver a fiscally responsible budget."

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