SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee officially endorsed Salt Lake City on Thursday as the American bid city for an upcoming Winter Olympics, with the committee’s chairman saying that while the U.S. bid remains flexible, it would prefer hosting in 2034 over 2030.
The move to put Salt Lake City up as a candidate for “targeted dialogue” with the International Olympic Committee about an upcoming Winter Games was expected, but still marked a major milestone for the bid, said the city’s bid-committee president, Fraser Bullock.
Bid organizers have touted Salt Lake City, which hosted the Winter Games in 2002, as the most ready and most flexible candidate to host in either 2030 or 2034. The 2030 bid process has been muddled, with Canada and Japan pulling out of the running, but Sweden, Switzerland and France all more recently discussing a possible bid with the IOC.
The 2034 Games would be less of a logistical and business challenge for both Salt Lake City and the U.S. committee since 2030 would come only two years after Los Angeles hosts the Summer Games.
The 2030 host was originally supposed to be selected at an annual IOC meeting in Mumbai next month, but that has been changed and is now expected to be chosen at a meeting on the eve of next year’s Olympics in Paris.
During the 2023 session of the Utah Legislature, lawmakers passed several pieces of legislation, which Gov. Spencer Cox signed, supporting Salt Lake City’s bid.
“It’s a way to secure the Games and we want to show the IOC we want the Games back,” Rep. Jon Hawkins, R-District 55, told St. George News in a phone interview in March. “The point is we want to show the IOC we are ready, willing and really able to hold another Games here in Utah.
“It’s a way for us to signal that, but it’s also a way for the Legislature to be involved on a higher level in understanding what’s happening with the Games, the host committee and being able to just oversee that process from a public transparency perspective.”
Both HB 430 and HRC 8 are designed to ensure the potential financial burden of hosting the Winter Olympics would not fall to taxpayers and also earmarks funding to maintain and update existing venues from the 2002 Games.
Sen. Mitt Romney was instrumental in leading a contingent that restored faith in how Utah secured that Olympiad, which, while received as impressive globally, was tainted by scandal.
Romney, in response to an inquiry from St. George News in late February, offered the following statement through his press secretary Arielle Mueller:
Utah has already demonstrated that we would do a terrific job hosting the world, having hosted one of the most successful Olympic Winter Games in history. During the 2002 Winter Games, Utah’s spirit of service was on full display with 50,000 volunteers — working 17 straight days in the cold with no pay and no tickets — signing up for the 25,000 positions needed. On top of that, the quality of our sporting sites is unparalleled and our venues have been well maintained. I’m confident that we will host another Games, and look forward to that day.
In April, Salt Lake City’s position seemed to gain strength after Yashuhiro Yamashita, the head of the Japanese Olympic Committee, said Sapporo may delay its bid for the Winter Olympics, going for 2034 instead of 2030.
Opposition to hosting the Olympics was strong — much of it pegged to the ongoing corruption scandal around the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“It’s hard to go ahead with the original bid plan without gaining people’s understanding,” Yamashita was quoted as saying by Japan news agency Kyodo. He said it was “clear that many local residents are concerned and anxious.”
Yamashita took over the Japanese Olympic Committee in 2019 following another scandal involving then-president Tsunekazu Takeda. Takeda also stepped down as an IOC member, the post going to Yamashita.
Two other known candidates for 2030 have jumped in recently, likely with encouragement from the IOC. Stockholm, Sweden, officials have said they would conduct a feasibility study. Swiss bidders have also shown preliminary interest.
Stockholm lost out in a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics to Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.