Arnold Schwarzenegger is worried about Los Angeles’s infrastructure holding up for the 2028 Summer Olympics.
The legendary actor and former California governor joined Front Office Sports Tonight and was asked about his thoughts on the Olympics coming to town less than two years from now.
“I’m just concerned, in general, that we are going to have a tough time [doing] the Olympics here. And of course, the people will be welcome. Los Angeles people love seeing foreigners come here and tourism and all of that stuff and I think that they are going to do everything that they can to make it entertaining and to be hospitable,” Schwarzenegger said.
“But I just think that the only ones that are really an obstacle are the politicians. The reason that I’m saying that is because we are not building enough infrastructure. No matter where you look—not just in Los Angeles—in America—wherever you look- they’re talking about how the water system is 100 years old and breaking and exploding and blowing up and causing floods. The sewage system is breaking, and every so often we get the notice that you can’t swim at the beach because the sewage has been dumped out. California is like the hottest place in the world. Everyone wants to come to California! We are the number-one state in the union with the biggest GDP. We are the fourth-largest economy in the world, and we are operating like we’re a third-world country.”
Schwarzenegger mentioned the Pacific Palisades blaze where the fire fighters did not have sufficient access to water.
“Stupid things like that—it’s infrastructure!” Schwarzenegger said. “There’s no reason we ever have a drought; there’s no reason why we don’t have a high-speed rail; there’s no reason why we don’t have a light rail—which we had 60-70 years ago in Los Angeles, and then they ripped it out! Why? To sell out to the tire, oil, and car companies. They were in cahoots! Now, we have to rebuild all those tracks again. Imagine if we had trams going from Long Beach to the Valley to Los Angeles to Malibu to Santa Monica—everywhere. It was ripped out, so now we have to build the thing again.”
Nevertheless, Schwarzenegger reiterated that he sees “great things happening” with regards to the athletic competitions and the embrace of global tourists.
