After speculation that Los Angeles would potentially be harnessed as a safe fallback option for the United States Olympic Committee in their pursuit to host the 2024 Summer Games, it now appears that the question has been soundly answered. In a recent interview with the Boston Globe, USOC CEO Scott Blackmun explained that Boston 2024 is the sole U.S. option for a bid in that Olympic year.

“We categorically deny that any such discussions are taking place,” Blackmun said of the L.A. possibility for a secondary option should public opinion force an abandoning of Boston 2024. “We also categorically deny that any such discussions have taken place in the past. If I could say that more strongly, I would.”

For those who remember the Wall Street Journal article in March, which first seriously posited that the 1932 and 1984 site for the Summer Games (Los Angeles) was being talked to behind closed doors, this essentially answers the question. If the U.S. gets a 2024 Olympic bid, it will be Boston or bust.

Following a disastrous winter which saw approval numbers for the Olympic bid fall continuously (the statewide Olympic approval nadir came at 36 percent in March according to a WBUR poll), April saw a slight rebound. With a 40 percent approval, however, Boston 2024 still has a mountain to climb. Generally, the International Olympic Committee (who decides on which city will host at a summit in 2017) examines public support as part of its criteria.