WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 -- The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) announced on Tuesday it will bid for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics but decided not to choose a city until next month.

Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington D.C had all made presentations to the USOC Board in Redwood City, California, and USOC chairman Larry Probst said they had decided not to announce a decision until at least next month to give themselves more time.

"We are going to take our time and pick the city we think has the best chance of winning the competition from other cities around the world," he said.

Probst admitted that they would pick a "single city", ruling out a joint bid from Los Angeles and San Francisco, an idea that had gained momentum since the adoption by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last week of Agenda 2020, which allows cities to put in joint bids.

America has not hosted the Summer Olympics since Atlanta in 1996. New York City and Chicago bid unsuccessfully for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, events awarded to London and Rio de Janeiro respectively.

Rome is the only city to have officially declared so far it will bid for the 2024 Olympics but Germany is expected to put forward either Berlin or Hamburg.

The deadline for confirming bids is September 15 next year but a special invitation phase for the 2024 Olympic bid process will start on January 15, with the IOC keen to provide more consultation with cities in order to generate more popular support.