LA 2024 bid names former Olympic swimmer Evans vice chair
LOS ANGELES (AP) The group trying to bring the 2024 Olympics to Los Angeles has named Olympic swimming medalist Janet Evans its vice chair and director of athlete relations.
Evans, a Southern California native, won a total of five Olympic medals in 1988 and 1992. She passed the torch to Muhammad Ali at the opening ceremony of the 1996 Atlanta Games.
LA 2024 chairman Casey Wasserman said placing Evans in the position was a sign of the bid's commitment to put athletes at the heart of its plan.
Los Angeles is trying to bring the Summer Olympics back to the United States for the first time since 1996. It is competing against Rome, Paris, Budapest, Hungary and Hamburg, Germany. The International Olympic Committee will award the games in 2017.
