Vice Chair for Los Angeles’ bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and nine-time Paralympian Candace Cable participated in this weekend’s Abilities Expo and CicLAvia in LA, an event to raise awareness for accessibility that reaffirms LA 2024’s commitment to delivering the “most inclusive Games in history.”
Cable praised LA’s wealth of existing sports facilities for their state-of-the-art accessibility standards and the City of Los Angeles for its pioneering status as one of the most accessible large cities in the world.
Abilities Expo was founded in Los Angeles nearly 40 years ago and has been the go-to source for the community of people with an impairment, their families, seniors, veterans and healthcare professionals to discover new technologies, solutions and opportunities to enhance day-to-day experiences with work, sport and myriad other facets of life.
Also last weekend LA 2024 joined CicLAvia, the United States’ largest open streets celebration, to host a “Culver City Meets Venice” event that closed streets to cars, converting them to plazas filled with children, families and Angelenos on their bikes, feet, wheelchairs and strollers.
The 20th CicLAvia event, held since 2010, “Culver City Meets Venice” focused on ensuring the carefree street festival was accessible to all. All event hubs, where participants enjoyed art, music and food, were ADA compliant, along with key restroom and water fountain locations along the six-mile route. Extra volunteers were stationed in places with steep inclines, and all pets, including service animals, were welcome.
Cable spoke at the event likening CicLAvia event’s awareness-raising to the unparalleled opportunity that the Paralympic Games present to raise awareness and spur advocacy around accessibility and rights for those with impairments.
She said, “the Olympic and Paralympic Movement have the power to bring our communities together, celebrate our common humanity and promote peace and understanding through sport.”
“More than a million people with an impairment live in Los Angeles, and this weekend’s Abilities Expo and CicLAvia events reminded us that not only are Angelenos already passionate and committed to building a city that serves all of its residents, but that LA is poised to deliver the most inclusive Games in history.”
LA 2024 says that all participants and guests at the Olympic and Paralympic Games will find fully accessible accommodation, public transportation and sports facilities. New compliant stations, information kiosks, assistive listening and visual communication and improvements throughout public thoroughfares are all elements of the City’s major commitment to accessibility for all those who use its public transport network.
LA 2024 says that by 2024, one of the largest accessibility-related public works improvements programs through its Sidewalk Repair Program, will be well on its way to improving or replacing nearly 11,000 miles of concrete sidewalk and associated curb and crosswalk curb ramps, assuring compliant paths of travel and adherence to Vision Zero, LA’s incident-free program, with the goal of total pedestrian safety. New streetlights, directional signage and accessible routes to public facilities are additional facets of the city’s commitment to access, which will be in place by Games time.
LA is competing with Paris to host the 2024 Games which will be decided through a vote by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on September 13, in Lima, Peru.
