The fires have blazed across tens of thousands of acres, swallowing homes, devouring communities, and scarring Los Angeles for 10 unending days. They left an ashy trail of destruction, toxins and charred debris that will take months to clear. Then, Angelenos will attempt to rebuild their beloved city. Doing so will require a “Marshall Plan” akin to the one that reconstructed Europe after World War II. The recovery, experts say, will take several years.
And in those years, the same Los Angeles will host perhaps the planet’s three grandest sporting events.
As survivors struggle, and power tools screech, and politicians replan, their city will stage the 2026 men’s World Cup, the 2027 Super Bowl and the 2028 Olympics.
While the fires raged this week, those megaevents, and especially the Olympics, became subjects of angst and speculation. Could LA really host the Games, some wondered, with reconstruction ongoing?The answer, …