The IOC made its announcement, soon after the midnight Tuesday deadline for contenders, of five finalists to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games: the four European cities of Budapest, Hamburg, Paris, and Rome, and the U.S. west coast city of Los Angeles.
IOC President Thomas Bach called the finalists "outstanding cities" and predicted the race will be "strong and fascinating." The final decision is to be announced in 2017.
This is the first Olympics planned under IOC reforms that are geared toward making the event more cost-effective for host cities and more useful to their long-term development plans. Bach said Wednesday that the IOC will contribute $1.7 billion to the event.
Paris is bidding for a chance to host a centennial version of the 1924 Games held in that city, while Los Angeles wants a chance to host again after staging the Games in 1932 and 1984.
Los Angeles is the only North American city in the running after the withdrawals of Boston and Toronto, both of whom cited cost concerns.
Hamburg is to hold a referendum in November to determine whether city residents want to host the Games.