The International Olympic Committee reported yesterday, Feb. 17, that it’s received four official bids for the 2024 Olympic Games. The four cities are: Los Angeles, Paris, Rome and Budapest. 

The application process, what the IOC is calling a “Candidature Process,” for the 2024 Olympic Games includes three stages. For the first, hopeful cities were required to submit their packets for “vision, games concept and strategy.” It’s a new bidding process, with an increased emphasis on sustainability and economic feasibility. 

“The Candidature Process 2024 is the first to be launched following the adoption of Olympic Agenda 2020, the IOC’s strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic movement,” stated a press release from the IOC. “The new Candidature Process encourages the cities to present Olympic projects that best match their sports, economic, social and environmental long-term planning needs. It calls for the use of existing facilities where possible, and provides flexibility for the venue concept to meet local sustainability and legacy needs and ambitions.”

For stage 2, each city must address governance, legal and venue funding. In stage 3, it’s games delivery, experience and venue legacy. 

The deadline for submission of the stage 2 paperwork is Oct. 7, and the stage 3 deadline is February 2017. At the end of each stage, the IOC executive board will confirm that each city will transition through to the next stage. During stage 3, an IOC evaluation commission will make visits to each city to study their projects in detail and issue a final report. 

The election of the host city for 2024 will take place in September 2017 at the IOC Session in Lima, Peru.

“Los Angeles, Rome, Budapest and Paris are all submitting projects fully in line with Olympic Agenda 2020,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “It is impressive to see how they have incorporated the Olympic project into the long-term development plans of their city, region and country. Coming from different starting points, for all four there is a clear focus on sustainable development, legacy and in particular how the facilities are going to be used after the Olympic Games. We are delighted to have four extremely strong candidatures and look forward to a fascinating competition.”

Los Angeles previously hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1984. For the 1984 version, the equestrian sports were hosted at the Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, Calif., and then cross-country was held at the Fairbanks Ranch Country Club in Rancho Sante Fe, Calif. 

The bid packet for 2024 suggests hosting the equestrian events at a $45 million temporary venue at what’s currently the Woodley Golf Course in the Sepulveda Basin, about 20 miles outside of the center of Los Angeles in Van Nuys, Calif. The equestrian sports are included in the “Valley Cluster” with shooting, modern pentathlon and canoe slalom. (See more of the Los Angeles plan on its website, or read the paperwork they submitted to the IOC.)

“Because of L.A.’s extraordinary array of existing sport, transport and accommodation infrastructure, composing a responsible L.A. 2024 Games Concept is more a matter of selecting the best choices instead of building them,” states the stage 1 proposal.