When the International Olympic Committee first handed Los Angeles the 2028 Summer Olympics back in 2017, IOC president Thomas Bach called it “a golden opportunity” for all involved. Fast forward to last month when Kirsty Coventry took the reins from Bach at the IOC. So much has changed.
In January, LA was hit with deadly wildfires. That same month a different sort of natural disaster took shape as Donald Trump returned to the White House. Bach had previously praised LA for its “strong foundation”, but that foundation has crumbled under the weight of the wildfires, a citywide budget crisis and an erratic president whose marauding Immigration and Customs Enforcement look like they arrived straight from robbing a liquor store to instill fear across Los Angeles.
