The closing ceremony of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics featured a memorable televised "handover" to the next host city, Los Angeles. Billie Eilish and the Red Hot Chili Peppers performed against a quintessential California backdrop: sandy beaches, palm trees, blue ocean and crystal-clear skies.

But in recent days, as parts of Los Angeles have been engulfed in flames, homes and businesses in the sprawling metropolis have been reduced to smoldering ash and rubble, most catastrophically in the neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades and Altadena. This image of happiness was shattered.

It is unlikely that the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles will be rescheduled, and so far no major sports venues, stadiums or athletes' housing complexes have been damaged by the fires. But the fire still casts a pall over the next Olympics.

The task facing the city and organizers who managed to bring the Games to the West Coast is no small feat: rebuild and recover in time to host some 15 million people for the 17-day sporting extravaganza.

At least one senior official is confident the City of Angels will return to normal in time for the festivities. Casey Wasserman, president of LA28, the private fundraising and organizing group behind the games, praised the city's resilience in the face of obstacles.

"Los Angeles is characterized by its resilience and determination," Wasserman said in a statement. "The strength of our community and our unity in difficult times make this city extraordinary, and when Los Angeles takes on the world in 2028, Our spirit will shine brighter than ever."

Wasserman added that LA28’s “top priority” is “making sure our communities have the resources they need and that our heroic first responders have their full support in keeping people safe.”

Asked how the wildfires might impact preparations for the Games, a spokesperson for Mayor Karen Bass did not answer directly but stressed her administration's commitment to handling emergencies.

Gabby Maarse said Bass is "focused on keeping Angelenos safe and protecting property." She is securing the federal, state and local resources needed to continue fighting these fires and is advancing all of the recovery plans mentioned above. "

California Governor Gavin Newsom told NBC's "Meet the Press" that he envisions a 21st-century "Marshall Plan" to revitalize parts of Los Angeles "ravaged by this disaster."

"My position is not simply naively optimistic, which only reinforces the need for us to act quickly and in a spirit of collaboration and cooperation," he said.

Newsom also said the crisis provides an opportunity for the incoming administration to lend a helping hand.

"To his credit, President Donald Trump has contributed to keeping the Olympics in the United States, in Los Angeles, and we thank him for that. This is his opportunity to shine, this country to shine, California and this community to shine," " Newsom said.

The 2028 Games will span all of Southern California, stretching as far south as Temecula (about 90 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles) and as far east as Oklahoma City (about 1,300 miles), where softball and canoe slalom competitions will be held.

Track and field meets and opening ceremonies will be held at the historic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, while swimming meets will be held at SoFi Stadium, home of the Rams and Chargers, in nearby Inglewood.

In the coming years, LA28 organizers and city officials may find themselves competing for construction resources with private businesses and homeowners seeking to rebuild. Contractors and suppliers are likely to be pushed to their limits, and that's before they factor in the temporary infrastructure required for the Games.

You'd have to go back more than a century to find another Olympics that was changed by a natural disaster. Jeremy Fuchs, author of a 2021 book on the history of the Olympics, mentioned a famous example from nearly 120 years ago. Rome was scheduled to host the 1908 Summer Olympics. But after the deadly and violent eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1906, Italian funds were diverted to support Rome's revival.

The 1908 Olympics moved to London, but Rome got another chance in the summer of 1960.

The athletes' arrival in London in late July 1948, more than three years after the end of World War II, was an example of the Olympics' progress after its latest disaster.

The 1948 Olympics were dubbed the "Austerity Games" because rationing and other wartime restrictions were still in place.

"Despite the fire damage, I highly doubt that the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will rival the war-shortened 1920 and 1948 Games," said John Hoberman, professor of the history of sports culture at the University of Texas express.

So far, the Los Angeles wildfires have burned dangerously close to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, which will host football and golf tournaments in 2028.

Hoberman said he could not imagine the International Olympic Committee canceling the Games from Los Angeles without more once-in-a-lifetime mass tragedies happening.

"It would take another disaster for the IOC to cancel the Games, which would be a huge political move in any case," he said.

IOC President Thomas Bach posted on X on Sunday that the IOC had "full solidarity with the citizens of Los Angeles and full admiration for the tireless work of firefighters and security forces."

"Currently, the focus must be on extinguishing the fire and protecting people and property," he added. "We also understand that a great Olympian, Gary Hall Jr., lost his medal in the fire. The IOC will Provide him with replicas.”

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