Paris has worked hard to make the Olympic Games environmentally friendly, from recycling to reducing emissions. That commitment was extended to traffic, with dedicated lanes for athletes and other Games-related staff to reduce car use. This fits in with Mayor Anne Hidalgo's philosophy of the 15-minute city and the city of proximity.

Los Angeles 2028, the road that is starting now, is doubling down on the challenge and is aiming for a car-free and traffic jam-free Games. For the US city, which already hosted the Games in 1984, it is an even more ambitious challenge as cars and highways are almost part of its identity in an urban space that is difficult to navigate by other means.

The organisers of Los Angeles 2028 are considering formulas such as promoting the use of public transport or teleworking, following the experience of the pandemic.

The Mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, told a press conference that the city will invest in transport improvements. "We've been building our transportation system to do that," she said, noting that the plan would require borrowing more than 3,000 buses from other parts of the United States.

Bass believes it is possible and refers to his own Olympic history: Los Angeles 84 did not have the traffic problems that were expected. "And in 1984 we didn't have any of the technology we have today," he added.

Another way Los Angeles seems to want to follow the Paris experience is to look at the city as a total stage: in Paris we have seen the Eiffel Tower or the Palace of Versailles, even the Seine River, integrated into the sporting events beyond the Olympic venues.

"We don't have an Eiffel Tower, we have the Hollywood sign. We have incredible venues. We have incredible geography and we're going to prove it," said Casey Wasserman, president of LA28.

Another challenge he will have to address is the homelessness situation, which in Los Angeles numbers 75,500 people. "We're going to get Angelenos into housing. We're going to house people, we're going to get them off the street. We're going to give them temporary housing, we're going to address the reasons why they were homeless, and we're going to give them permanent housing," the mayor said.