As mayor of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti was able to celebrate his city winning the race to host the 2028 Olympics. Now he is nurturing hopes of enjoying the games as US president.

While a raft of other senior Democrats fudge whether they are going to throw their hats into the ring, Mr Garcetti, 47, has made little secret of his presidential ambitions even if he has stopped short of formally announcing that he is actually seeking the nomination.

As far back as November last year, he was dropping less than subtle hints that he could be the person to lead the Democrats in 2020 even though a city mayor has never been elected president.

“The classic rules of American politics are dying if not dead, if you look at the last two presidential elections,” Mr Garcetti told the New York Times.

“An African-American could never be president until one was, a TV reality star couldn’t become president until one was.”

Making the leap from mayor of a city - even one as large as Los Angeles - to the White House would be unprecedented, which is why many see Mr Garcetti as a long-shot, especially when facing rivals with far higher national profiles.