LA Daily News: California leaders headline presidential delegation to Paris Olympics
By Clara Harter
Eleven of the fourteen members of the presidential delegation to the Paris Olympics hail from California, providing the Golden State representatives with a golden opportunity to study the games in the run-up to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
First Lady Jill Biden will lead the delegation to the opening ceremony on July 26. Her delegation includes Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, California Sen. Alex Padilla, and chairperson of the LA28 Olympic Games Casey Wasserman. It also includes Brian Boitano, three-time Olympian and Olympic gold medalist in figure skating from Sunnyvale, CA.
“The success of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games – for athletes, visitors and Angelenos alike – will depend upon local, state and federal partners working together,” Padilla said. “As we continue working to secure the necessary resources to ensure the 2028 Games are a success, I welcome the opportunity to get a closer look at Paris’s preparations.”
Then on August 11 second gentleman Doug Emhoff will lead the delegation to the closing ceremony and will be joined by U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler and U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach.
“During my time as mayor (of Long Beach), we fought to bring the Olympics to Long Beach and Los Angeles in 2028,” Garcia said. “With multiple events in Long Beach, I’m excited to join the delegation to represent our community and to learn ahead of the next Olympics.”
Four-time track and field Olympian Chaunté Lowe, who is from Templeton, CA, will also join the closing delegation, as will fellow Californian Denise Campbell Bauer, U.S. ambassador to the French Republic and the Principality of Monaco.
Bass said she plans on taking full advantage of her visit to continue aggressively preparing Los Angeles to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2028.
During her trip, she will join Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo at the opening ceremony, visit Team USA High Performance Training Center and tour competition sites. She will also meet with stakeholders to discuss how the games can be used to support local businesses, boost the regional economy and spur investment in public transportation and sustainability initiatives.
“We must continue our urgent work ensuring that Angelenos benefit from the preparation for the Games, as well as in the decades following,” said Mayor Bass. “Together, we will leverage the Games to help local small businesses, create local jobs and create lasting environmental and transportation improvements throughout Los Angeles.”
During the closing ceremony Bass will be given the official Olympic flag to take home to Los Angeles in preparation for 2028.
Garcia said he was also looking forward to meeting with athletes and elected officials to study how to make the games a big success in 2028. The former mayor of Long Beach helped secure rights for the city to host water polo, open water swimming, the triathlon, handball and sailing.
“As mayor of Long Beach, you hear so many stories about the impact the (1984) Olympics had our community,” he said. “We have so many Olympians that live in our city and are involved in our youth sports, so to be able to celebrate the Olympics coming to Long Beach and Los Angeles, and to have a historic number of sports in our city, is really important to me.”
Read the full article here.