2024 Olympic bid by city of Boston dropped by USOC

BOSTON -- The U.S. Olympic Committee has dropped Boston's bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics, sources tell CBS Boston.

The news comes hours after Boston Mayor Marty Walsh held a news conference saying that he would not sign any agreement for the games that would leave taxpayers on the hook for cost overruns.

"I refuse to mortgage the future of the city away. I refuse to put Boston on the hook for overruns," Walsh said.

Boston was selected for the bid earlier this year, beating out Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington D.C.

"I strongly believe that bringing the Olympic Games back to the United States would be good for our country and would have brought long-term benefits to Boston," Mayor Walsh said in a statement Monday afternoon. "However, no benefit is so great that it is worth handing over the financial future of our city and our citizens were rightly hesitant to be supportive as a result."

A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press that the city and the U.S. Olympic Committee severed ties after a board teleconference Monday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not yet been made public.

The decision throws the bid process -- and hopes that the U.S. will host another Olympics -- into flux. Only seven weeks remain before cities have to be officially nominated. If the USOC wants to stay in the race, Los Angeles is its likely choice.