Five cities - Los Angeles, Hamburg, Paris, Rome and Budapest - are in the running to host the 2024 Olympics, the International Olympic Committee officially unveiled Wednesday.

As noted by Reuters, Los Angeles is looking to host its third Summer Games while the four other cities are looking to bring back the multi-sport spectacle back to Europe.

"The IOC welcomes five outstanding cities to this strong competition," IOC President Thomas Bach said, noting that Azerbaijan's Baku, fresh from hosting the inaugural European Games back in June, also considered to join the running before opting to wait for a possible 2028 bid.

The report also notes that the IOC is keen on restoring the image of the Olympics as lucrative prospect following that disappointment that mired the 2022 Winter Games where just two candidates - Kazakhstan's Almaty and eventual winner Beijing - stayed in the race. Four other previous candidates decided to pull out due to financial concerns. The 2024 race is expected to be one of the most tightly contested one in years.

Los Angeles previously hosted the Summer Games back in 1932 and most recently in 1984. Paris, which failed in its bid for the 2012 Olympics, is looking to host the sporting extravaganza after it hosted it for the second and last time in 1924. The French city is seen as the early favorite along with Los Angeles.

Reuters points out that Budapest is looking to join Russia as the only other Eastern European country to host the Olympics, while Rome, which had to pull the plug on its 2020 bid, hosted the event back in 1960. Hamburg, which has not hosted the Olympics before, is looking to propose an inner-city Olympics with venues within walking distance for athletes.

"What is important for the IOC is that we want to send athletes to cities where they are welcome, where the population is clearly supporting the Olympic Games and is welcoming athletes," Bach said.

"How the candidate cities are showing this culture of welcome is up to them."