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Hungary to withdraw 2024 summer Olympic bid - government spokesman

A hostess poses with Hungary's Olympic logo at a promotional spot as the Hungarian capital bids for the 2024 Olympic Games, in central Budapest, Hungary January 31, 2017. Picture taken January 31, 2017. REUTERS/Laszlo Balogh (Reuters)

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary will withdraw its bid to host the 2024 summer Olympics, government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs told Reuters on Wednesday, after a meeting between Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Budapest Mayor Istvan Tarlos and the Hungarian Olympic committee. Bidding alongside powerhouses Los Angeles and Paris, Budapest had been considered a long-shot candidate, pinning its hopes on the International Olympic Committee's Agenda 2020 initiative. After local opponents of the candidacy last week submitted a quarter of a million signatures on a petition for a referendum on the bid, Tarlos had suggested the city might quit the race. (Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Hugh Lawson)