"There are probably three phases to the journey, the first was for us to really establish how we pay for it," Carter said, speaking to the W&M Alumni Magazine.

"What's the revenue look like?"

Carter was promoted from chief revenue officer to LA28 chief executive in September last year.

Carter draws on experience gained in helping to organise the 1994 FIFA World Cup and more recently as vice-president of Major League Soccer, but insists that an Olympic Organising Committee is like no other company.

"The second is starting to put the foundational elements of the organisation in place, because we’re essentially a startup that’ll grow to be tens of thousands of people and then we’ll go out of business," added Carter.

She believes the decisive phase of the operation won’t begin until 2024 when the Olympic Flag is handed over from Paris to Los Angeles.

"We’ve got a few years to make sure we have got the foundation of the organisation in place."

By chance, Carter attended William & Mary, the same Virginia college as Mark McCormack, considered to be the father of sports agents.

"When I was a senior, Mark, who was one of the originators of the sports marketing industry, came back to William & Mary and spoke to a lot of the student athletes," Carter recalled, as reported by the W&M Alumni Magazine.

"Coming out of that, everybody said, 'Boy, wouldn’t it be great? This is exactly what I want to do, to go into sports.'"

Carter remained close to her old college and still supports the "All In" campaign which aims to raise $55 million (£42 million/€49 million) to support sport at the institution.

"To me, it’s non-negotiable to pay it forward and to help future leaders," Carter insisted.

"There is something very special about the experience as students, as athletes and as people, and I think the college does a great job of fostering, sort of a special sauce."