Walsh ‘Will Think About What Could Have Been’ If L.A. Hosts the 2024 Olympics

The mayor's been watching the Rio Games from afar.

Photo via Mayor's Office/Isabel Leon

Photo via Mayor’s Office/Isabel Leon

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has received a “rock star” reception in Rio, wooing International Olympic Committee members in an effort to bring the 2024 Summer Games back to the United States.

That could’ve been Mayor Marty Walsh. But with Boston 2024 thoroughly sunk, and the USOC baton long passed to L.A. 2024, he’s had to watch the Rio Games at his home in Dorchester.

“It’s fine,” Walsh told the Globe‘s Shirley Leung, who was one of the most vociferous proponents of Boston’s bid. If L.A. is indeed tapped to host in 2024, “I will think about what could have been,” he said.

It’s an oddly remorseful coda to his previous remarks, especially those from his emergency press conference last year announcing he would not sign a taxpayer guarantee, effectively sandbagging the bid.

“I cannot commit to putting the taxpayers at risk,’’ Walsh said at the time. “If committing to sign a guarantee today is what’s required to move forward, then Boston is no longer pursuing the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

It’s unclear exactly which part of the Rio Games—from the rivers of diarrhea to the looming threat of Zika, to the apocalyptic traffic jams and the indiscriminate bulldozing of the favelas—that has aroused this wistfulness in Walsh.