Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia is a young, progressive, data-driven politician, which is why it’s strange to see him walking around with his fingers crossed for the last week or so, superstitiously eying the overcast skies in Southern California.

Garcia hosted the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday and Thursday, giving them a tour of the proposed Olympic sites in Long Beach as part of the LA 2024 bid.

“The weather, thankfully, has been great,” Garcia said after the tour’s conclusion Thursday afternoon. “I’m really happy about that, the coast looked beautiful. When we showed the IOC the sites and walked them through the different locations, the sun was beaming down.”

Given that the motto of the 2024 bid is “Follow the Sun,” that component of the tour was considered an important one by Garcia and 2024 organizers.

Under the LA 2024 bid, Long Beach would host Olympic events for the third time in its history, having hosted events during the 1932 and 1984 Los Angeles Games. In 2024, Long Beach would have the largest sports park outside of downtown Los Angeles, with a record six sports: handball in the Long Beach Arena, water polo and BMX in temporary venues around the Arena, the triathlon and open water swimming just south on the beach, and sailing off the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier.

“We got them up on a rooftop where they could see the Arena and the rest of where the sports park would be,” Garcia said. Renderings of the proposed venues were on hand so organizers could easily picture the scene.

“We’re a huge component of the bid and we have some very high-profile events,” Garcia said. “We’ve taken it very seriously; it’s very important to us. We’re proud to showcase Long Beach and our Olympic history.”

A big part of that history was on hand in the flesh, as five-time Olympic water polo player Tony Azevedo helped discuss the plans for water polo competition. Azevedo, a Wilson High School alum and current Long Beach resident, is the best known of several dozen Olympic water polo players to hail from Long Beach over the last century.

“It was great to have Tony be a part of the visit to Long Beach,” Garcia said. “We’re doing everything we can to put our best foot forward.”

Azevedo retired following the 2016 Olympics and has been dedicating his post-playing time to being an advocate for the sport. He toured all the SoCal sites with the IOC but was especially gratified to show them his hometown.

“To be able to tell them we’re the aquatic capital of the United States, and that there’s more water polo players from Long Beach than any other city in the country, that was pretty special,” he said. “This would be the first time that water polo would be played at an Olympic level in one of its meccas, and it would be an amazing opportunity for our sport for generations to come.”

Los Angeles is competing with Paris for the 2024 bid, with the decision to be announced in September in Peru, which is Garcia’s birthplace. He’ll be on hand to hear the IOC’s decision as part of the LA 2024 delegation. The IOC is visiting Paris next week to see the Paris 2024 organization’s final pitch.

Garcia emphasized that he thought the IOC’s visit to SoCal went well and that he believes the LA 2024 bid is in good shape.

“I was happy to welcome the IOC and greet them; they were very impressed and they asked about the Queen Mary and the waterfront,” he said. “I think we left a very good impression.”