The United States has been urged not to give up on a bid for the 2024 Olympics after Boston pulled out of the race due to lack of public support.

IOC president Thomas Bach said he was confident the US Olympic Committee could come up with a strong alternative — Los Angeles has been cited as the most likely replacement.

Bach said in a statement: "For the IOC this was always about an American bid put forward by the United States Olympic Committee. This invitation phase is also an opportunity to determine which city will eventually be chosen by an NOC. We are confident that USOC will choose the most appropriate city for a strong US bid."

The USA has a poor recent record of bidding with New York and Chicago failing badly in bids for the 2012 and 2016 Games respectively.

Boston’s bid suffered from low levels of public support — polls showed less than 40 per cent of the population backed a bid.

Many residents of the Massachusetts city feared funds would be used to pay for any overspend incurred in hosting the Games.

The host city contract includes a guarantee that the IOC would not be held responsible for any cost overruns — effectively passing the burden on to Boston and Massachusetts.

In a statement, USOC chief Scott Blackmun said: "We have not been able to get a majority of the citizens of Boston to support hosting the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

”The USOC does not think that the level of support enjoyed by Boston’s bid would allow it to prevail over great bids from Paris, Rome, Hamburg, Budapest or Toronto.

Blackmun added that USOC will explore the possibility of entering a different city in September’s bid to the IOC.