Olympics-Los Angeles named U.S. bid candidate for 2024 Games

(Adds detail) LOS ANGELES, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Los Angeles was selected on Tuesday as the American candidate city that will bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics after Boston pulled out of the race in July, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) said. Los Angeles, which has hosted the Summer Games twice before in 1932 and 1984, joins a race that includes Paris, Rome, Budapest and Hamburg. "It is my distinct honour today to formerly name the city of Los Angeles as the U.S bid city to host the 2024 Olympics," USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun told a news conference in Santa Monica. The final obstacle facing the city was cleared earlier on Tuesday when the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to pursue a bid for the 2024 Games, giving LA the chance to become the only city besides London to host the Olympics three times. The International Olympic Committee will elect a winning bid in 2017. (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Frank Pingue)