US Olympic officials impressed with Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, Mar 3 (Reuters) US Olympic officials completed a two-day tour of Los Angeles, saying they were impressed with the city's bid to host the 2016 Summer Games but refusing to tip their hand toward a final decision.

The US Olympic Committee's evaluation team, speaking at a news conference, said Los Angeles got strong marks for having most of the facilities needed for the games already in place and for its ability to enlist the entertainment industry.

But the committee, which must choose between Los Angeles and Chicago as the US bid city by April 14, said the second-largest city in the United States faced hurdles in having already hosted the games twice and in transportation logistics.

They were given the tour by the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games. The USOC team will visit Chicago next week.

''We came away feeling fairly confident that they can do what they promised,'' said Bob Ctvrtlik, chair of the USOC's evaluation committee.

He said the city's commitment to ''enlist the creative power'' of Hollywood and the entertainment industry was considered important to attracting younger audiences.

Ctvrtlik, who won an Olympic gold medal in 1988 as a member of the US volleyball team, conceded that members of the International Olympic Committee had repeatedly questioned the idea of giving the games to Los Angeles, which hosted in both 1932 and 1984, a third time.

''It does come up,'' he said. ''It comes up almost across the board, so its a factor. It's a factor that would have to be overcome.'' Members of the evaluation committee said another knock on Los Angeles was that its facilities were spread across sprawling Southern California, which famously lacks public transportation and has some of the worst traffic problems of any major US city.

Ctvrtlik said the Southern California committee assured them such problems could be overcome.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, speaking at the news conference, dismissed the transportation concerns, saying the issue was dealt with successfully during the 1984 games.

''We expect we will be able to handle the traffic,'' he said.

Reuters DH VP0615