Evening headlines of Aug. 4 perked up my ears and eyebrows as LA28 and The White House apparently are announcing an Olympic planning task force on Aug. 5.
I wrote to The White House press office team to ask more, and here's the two statements they shared (their reply in less than five minutes did impress):
"During his first term, President Trump was instrumental in securing America's bid to host the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Credit: Hisham Ibrahim for Getty Images
The President considers it a great honor to oversee this global sporting spectacle in his second term. Sports is one of President Trump's greatest passions, and his athletic expertise, combined with his unmatched hospitality experience, will make these Olympic events the most exciting and memorable in history," -- Karoline Leavitt [36th White House press secretary]
"On behalf of LA28, I want to express our deep appreciation to President Trump and his Administration for their leadership and unwavering support as we prepare to deliver the largest and most ambitious Olympic and Paralympic Games ever hosted in the United States. Since we secured this historic opportunity in 2017, President Trump has consistently recognized the magnitude of our responsibility in welcoming the world to Los Angeles. The creation of this task force marks an important step forward in our planning efforts and reflects our shared commitment to delivering not just the biggest, but the greatest Games the world has ever seen in the summer of 2028." -- Casey Wasserman, Chairperson and President of LA28.
How concerning should this be?
On one hand, as reported elsewhere and as observed firsthand or reading history around U.S. Olympic host organizing committees since Lake Placid 1980, the Games engaging the federal government is standard operating procedure. So, it makes perfect sense that LA28 teams up with the U.S. government for security, prepping eased entry to the U.S. for international guests, transportation and on other fronts.
On the other hand, I don't recall any previous White House -- except for President Carter pulling Team USA out of the Moscow 1980 Games to lead/inspire what became a multinational boycott -- making "a thing" about their involvement with the Games. Rather, the modus operandi was seemingly on the down low, or perhaps so mundane as to warrant zero media coverage (though I did find online an archived May 1996 White House release from the office of the press secretary outlining preparations for Atlanta).
Karen Bass by Myung J Chun/LA Times
But the timing for tomorrow's shared LA28/Executive Branch ceremony is curiously, closely on the heels of Mayor of Los Angeles Karen Bass' recent comments critical of the president. The City of LA is in its own negotiation with LA28 regarding an array of agreements and funding (I won't try to summarize here but the LA Times did so on Aug. 2 at this link).
The White House did provide previous reassurances of federal support, as reported when the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic officials met with the president this spring.
Only Tuesday's ceremony with Wasserman, and time, will tell what the future holds for LA28, its federal support/input and how the president will engage. One hopes any presidential oversight will be only from a distance.
As LA28 continues its march to the next summer Olympics, the organization recently enjoyed a trio of headline news items tethered to flags, flat beds and flights of fancy.
The first and biggest news: On May 15, California-based Archer, an emerging avionics enterprise, signed on as LA28's official air taxi provider, a new official supporter category for a summer Games.
Four days later, New York-based Saatva emerged as the official mattress brand to literally support athletes by providing "mattresses, linens and pillows ... ensuring they get the restorative sleep critical to recovery and overall wellbeing," according to their release**.
And as of May 20, the NFL cleared players for flag football's XXXIVth Olympiad debut.
About those air taxis ... according to the announcement, which painted some broad strokes, collaborators "will look to integrate Archer's Midnight eVTOL aircraft across the LA28 Games in a variety of ways, such as transporting VIPs, fans and stakeholders, while electrifying vertiport [takeoff/landing] hubs for key venues and providing support for emergency services and security."
Inspired to learn more, brief research yielded a July 2024 article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which reported from a suburban airport near Archer's plant being built in Covington, Ga. According to the article and other sources, eVTOL is the acronym for electric vertical takeoff and landing (like heliports or helipads, the new aircraft destinations are named vertiports). Sidebar: Bell Textron provided air support at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, per this trade article of that era.
Archer's CEO elevated their news with an appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," which filled in a few more blanks.
For each answer, however, additional questions emerged, and to date the abundance of launch news coverage did not answer the following:
Q: At Olympic venues, where specifically will the vertiports be located?
Partial A: An August press release gets more in the weeds about a "taxi network" but I'm wondering how far of a walk or golf cart ride from landing to getting one's Olympic ticket scanned at LA Coliseum since a glance at Google Maps reveals a dearth of open real estate for a vertiport installation.
From LA Coliseum the nearest helipad is a mile north
Q: What capacity is planned for passengers?
Partial A: Crunching some numbers, even if there is room to simultaneously land 10 eVTOLs at one vertiport, with up to four passengers landing every 15 minutes, that's only 160 passengers transported per hour for a venue with, say, 80,000 to 100,000 seats.
(10 aircraft x 4 passengers x 4 landings per hour = 160 individuals per hour arriving at venues per hour ... or 320 in the two hours prior to a ticketed event start time).
Q: From what pool will they hire dozens to hundreds of air taxi pilots?
Q: How will LA28/Archer crack the code that eluded European competitors from an air taxi launch during Paris 2024?
Q: How much will it cost per taxi fare (on top of, say, at $500 track & field ticket)?
Q: What exactly did they mean by the press release statement that the sponsorship includes "access to storytelling [on NBC's] Games coverage, including moments like the 2028 opening and closing ceremonies."?
According to Google Maps, SoFi Stadium has zero nearby helipads -- who pays?
On this last question, my gut answer starts with "Oh, no -- please don't deliver the torch in an eVTOL!"
Even if the electric aircraft are quieter than the helicopter used to deliver the LA84 Closing Ceremonies "UFO" or Queen Elizabeth's parachute from an AgustaWestland AW139 at London 2012's opening, any stunt that distracts from hero athletes seems abaft.
I do wish for Archer to succeed in their delivery of the Games' first Olympic air taxi service. It's exciting to see their ambitious plans taking shape in LA and other major U.S. cities including Chicago.
If given the chance, would you arrive at the Olympics via Midnight eVTOL? Let me know your answers in the comments!
Image credits: LA28/Archer, Google Maps, Saatva.com, Ebay via WorthPoint.
**Snarky two cents: Saatva's press team wins the gold (err, tin) medal for hyperbole, using "proud" not once but pridefully thrice in their press release lede. Clearly, they missed the articles by Adweek and Trust Insights in 2024 and 2019, respectively, penned by authors admonishing publicists to avoid overused keywords. To their credit, however, they weren't thrilled but the USOPP CEO was, according to his PR-penned quote. Eyeroll.
***Bonus snark: Saatva also may have set a world record for the longest press release lede paragraph, tossing out AP Style simplicity for an astounding seven lines of copy.
On Monday afternoon (July 31), about five big alerts or texts popped up within a two-minute period, with one potential life-influencing message akin to a day in September 1990 when Atlanta won its Olympic bid for 1996.
In the moments of these inbound missives, I was navigating westbound 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan with a friend, the two of us urgently searching for a gas station to replenish a near-empty rental car fuel tank (technically, the first in the series of "alerts" arrived as my travel companion pointed out the illuminated "fuel low" light on the dashboard, and the second urgency-inducing element was the then-imminent conclusion to our interesting weekend of Long Island sightseeing and conversation).
Then, in rapid succession ...
Alert: "The Mooch" out at White House (whew!)
Text: Family member in hospital (recovering, sort of OK, whew!)
The initial alerts all sort of got blurry after that biggie ... Los Angeles is likely gonna host the 2028 summer Olympics. Amazing! Not entirely surprising given recent news, but an astounding headline that will certainly influence the trajectory of my life and countless others' lives during the next 11 years.
Here's the bid team's refreshed video highlighting so much of what Los Angeles offers as a three-time Olympic host:
Kudos are also due to Paris 2024 -- which will present Les Jeux Magnifique! -- for the city's eminent selection as the Games host on the city's centennial of presenting the 1924 summer Olympiad.
Favorite headline du jour may be from the French Olympic news site FrancJeux.com.
With thanks to the screenwriters for "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" for 21 years ago teaching me the phrase-turned-headline, Les Jeux Sont Fais -- The Game Is Up! (In this case, for Paris' five-tries-for-the-win bidding efforts.)
Here's a peek at Paris 2024's team video showcasing how the City of Lights is, to their bid motto, Made For Sharing:
The International Olympic Committee also deserves a high-five as the organization got creative and rewrote the books to accommodate two outstanding candidate cities found in LA and the French capital. In the words of IOC President Thomas Bach, a "win-win-win" indeed. Now the upcoming IOC Session in Lima, Peru, will be more of a formality to bestow two Games for the world to enjoy during this century's third decade.
Several friends later wrote to ask my take on the news.
In a word: HAPPY!
The next three Olympic cities starting with Tokyo in 2020 are going to bring some overdue stability to the Olympic Movement not seen since the LA84 to Seoul '88 to Barcelona '92 era. Atlanta '96 delivered many ups and downs, Sydney 2000 was amazing, then the rive-ringed migraines of Athens '04, Beijing '08 and Rio 2016 shook things to the core. Even London 2012 struggled with world economic challenges.
In three years, I believe Tokyo will deliver the most technically advanced modern Games, with Paris set to celebrate history and potentially restore traditions of the Cultural Olympiad, an element of the Games experience that once rivaled the sports competition.
Los Angeles will innovate things further with more than a decade to prepare. I, for one, can hardly wait to see things take shape over the next 10+ years, not only in the Olympic scene but also personally as I envision relocating professionally at some point, marriage and starting a family, preparing for retirement and other milestone events along the roads and flights to Japan, France and Los Angeles (not to mention future winter Olympic destinations).
So many surprises occurred in my world in recent months. Who'da thunk Paris and LA would both prove victorious in their bids? Who'da thunk this would be the biggest year in client work for my growing public relations enterprise? Or finding new friends who've proven to be close quality companions?
I am so optimistic on many fronts, and the creative and unexpected solutions that led to LA28 is inspiring to me. Some very creative and open minds collaborated through flexibility and patience -- the results will be dramatic and fresh.
Now, some have already found ways to poke holes in the future Games sites, like late night TV hosts (all in good fun, LOL). It will be interesting to see how the world's grizzled Olympic reporters rake up crud on which to hang some headlines now that they don't have Rio 2016 to kick around anymore.
As with that September day in 1990, when I returned home from a day of high school senior year classes to learn from my mother "some great news on NBC" that Atlanta won its bid to host the Centennial Games, I will always remember the person I was with and the place at which the LA28 news arrived. Big smiles. Happy. Very happy.
Where will you be in 11 years? Let's all meet in the City of Angels for some fun. Bravo!
A public relations executive by day, small-time eBayer by night and weekends, lifetime member of the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) and full-time Olympic enthusiast who also looks at "BoingBoing-style" unusual news with interest. Please e-mail me at olympiada@yahoo.com or if you can't get enough try my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/people/Nicholas_Wolaver/713593008
Posts
