LOS ANGELES, Jan 23: Los Angeles, host city for the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics, submitted a bid on Monday for selection as the US candidate city for the 2016 Games.

The US Olympic Committee (USOC) will decide between Los Angeles and Chicago in April.

“We can stage the Games with almost no construction of permanent facilities,” Barry Sanders, chairman of the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games, said in a statement.

“We can turn our attention to building human spirit, human achievement and joy -- the fundamental Olympic values.”

Los Angeles plans to renovate the LA Coliseum as its main Olympic venue for the opening and closing ceremonies and also for track and field. Chicago is preparing to build its main stadium in the Washington Park area.

Other venues in the LA bid include the downtown Staples Center, where the NBA's Lakers and Clippers play home games, the Honda Center in Anaheim, base for the NHL's Anaheim Ducks, and the Home Depot Center in Carson, which stages professional women's tennis.

The only venue not yet constructed would be one for shooting at the county fairgrounds in suburban Pomona, Sanders said.

Athletes would be housed in the Olympic Village at the University of California, Los Angeles campus, and media, Olympics officials and other dignitaries at the University of Southern California campus.

Los Angeles will have to overcome possible opposition to its hosting the Games for a third time.

“We've been up front with the LA officials and a key component of their bid is how they answer that question,” USOC vice-president Bob Ctvrtlik said two months ago.

“You can have all the venues built but if you can't have the voters convinced as to why the Olympics should come back to your city it won't really be of much help.”

Chicago and Los Angeles have three months to pitch for 2016 candidature before the USOC announces its pick on April 14.

The deadline for the USOC to put its nomination before the International Olympic Committee is Sept. 15.

The winning city will be announced by the IOC in October 2009 in Copenhagen.

The United States last hosted the Summer Games in 1996 at Atlanta. New York staged an unsuccessful bid for the 2012 Games, won by London.— Reuters