WarpedReality

I often root for Canadian athletes that I know are from from Quebec or the Maritime Provinces over American Athletes from the West US. But I may be unique in this regard.

FYI, that is a Eurocentric mindset. It is fitting because the IOC is a Eurocentric organization. There's no "right" answer to this; it's just a fun thing to argue about. And the US has over a dozen regions that could technically host the games. The multitude of European NOCs is just an artifact. Tomorrow, the EU could decide to have one gigantic European NOC and it wouldn't change anything.

I understand London 2012 has no impact on Paris 2024, but that is due to the IOC's pro-Europe bias. As I said, it was much easier for Parisians to attend London 2012 events than it was for New Yorkers to attend Atlanta 1996 events. As for Russia and China, remember that population is more important than geography. Some of those regions in Russia/China don't have the population to host the games. Namely, they do not have metropolises that at least rank on those lists of "Global Cities". For the same reason, we can be assured the "Great Plains" of the US will never host (to the chagrin of Tulsa). However, I bet you China will host another Summer Olympics later this century, but it won't be in Beijing.

The US and EU are roughly the same size. Both should host roughly the same number of Olympics. Perhaps you subtract 1 from the US to compensate for an inevitable Canadian Games. The reason the Olympics moves from city to city instead of just being played in Greece is to expose as many people as possible to the Olympic movement. When the Olympics were in London, Parisians could access them after spending a few hours on a train through the Chunnel. When the Olympics were in Atlanta or Los Angeles, Northeastern Americans needed to fly to reach either of those cities. Now don't get me wrong, I support Paris' bid now that Boston is officially gone. They have a superior technical bid and the city and Continental Europe (excluding the Mediterranean) hasn't hosted the games since Munich in 1972. And besides, they are one of the 4 top cities in the world.

In my mind, London really ought to hamper Paris' chances because it is only a few hundred kilometers away. I know the Eurocentric IOC disagrees with me, but that doesn't make them right.

The long duration since the last French games is somewhat compelling. However, the Northeast United States is only a bit smaller than France in terms of population and land area, but it has NEVER hosted a Summer Olympics. Regardless, Paris' bid has the superior technical aspects and Boston and Boston's bid is about to be taken off life-support so that it may die with dignity.

They have what it takes to beat Boston and Baku, but not much else.

I think the Patriots' Day bombing in Boston is much more relevant to Boston's bid than any of the other tragedies of that have befallen other bid cities simply on account of the fact that it was a sporting event that was bombed. The very first Boston Marathon (held in 1897) was inspired by the revival of the Olympics the previous year. Not only that, the marathon is a marquee Olympic Event, which is oftentimes the final event with the finish incorporated within the closing ceremony. Without a doubt, if a 2024 Boston Olympic Marathon were to end at the very same finish line where tragedy occurred 9 years prior, it would be foolish not to commemorate the event.