U.S. Olympic Committee chairman Larry Probst told Reuters that the United States — if a suitable candidate can be identified — intends to bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

"It is our intention to bid for 2024 if all the elements we talked about previously are in place," Probst said. "That obviously includes, do we have the right message, do we have the right technical plan, do we have the right leaders, do we have the financial support of the local community, do we have governmental support, so a lot of things have to fall in place."

If those things fall into place, the USOC will be looking to host its first Summer Games since 1996. Included among the cities which have already expressed interest are Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, San Diego, Boston and Dallas, but the committee is also actively gauging interests from several additional cities.

The process of paring down the applicant pool will move to the next stage after the coming Winter Games in Sochi.

While the 2014 host-city decision from the International Olympic Committee will not come until 2017, Inside The Games is reporting that the USOC is receiving "lots of encouragement" from IOC members.