SALT LAKE CITY — After more than a decade of bidding, Utah was awarded the 2034 Winter Games this year.
The long-awaited decision came on July 24, a day of special significance to Utahns because it marks the entry of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley. A pre-dawn crowd already gathered in downtown Salt Lake City in anticipation of the annual Pioneer Day parade celebrated the International Olympic Committee’s vote that was held in Paris.
While the excitement of that day isn’t going to be forgotten anytime soon in Utah, there were many more Olympic-related moments in 2024 impacting the state, both before and after the announcement that Utah will once again welcome the world, after successfully hosting the 2002 Winter Games.
Here’s 10 to note now that the countdown to 2034 is underway.
- Detailed plans submitted: In a February ceremony held in the state Capitol’s Gold Room, Gov. Spencer Cox and other leaders of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games electronically turned in thousands of pages of required responses to the International Olympic Committee’s Future Host Questionnaire that were later made public. A month later, a series of local, state and national financial guarantees were sent without fanfare to the committee.
- Economic impact forecast: The 2034 Winter Games is expected to give the state’s economy a $6.6 billion boost, according to the the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. A report released in July showed much less money for construction would be needed this time around, since taxpayers have helped maintain the venues from the 2002 Games. But there’s still $4.1 billion in “significant” new spending associated with another Olympics and Paralympics.
- Venues look familiar: All of Utah’s 2002 venues will be used again for the next Games, with the exception of the Weber County Ice Sheet in Ogden. Hockey has been moved from the Maverik Center in West Valley City to the Delta Center, being remodeled to accommodate Utah’s new National Hockey League team. A massive temporary jump for big air skiing and snowboarding is already planned in downtown Salt Lake City, and other new venues may be coming.
- Higher price tag revealed: The budget for staging the 2034 Games will add up to around $4 billion including a legacy fund and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s revenue share. The $2.83 billion “core budget” is up from previously cited costs, but those estimates were for hosting in 2030. All of the money needed is set to be raised privately, largely from the sale of broadcast rights, sponsorships and tickets. The state of Utah, however, is the Winter Games guarantor.
- IOC leaders come to Utah: International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and top executives of the Switzerland-based organization that controls the Olympic Games visited Utah in September. Just like the members of the committee’s Future Host Commission who traveled to the state in April to evaluate venues as part of the bid process, Bach marveled at the continued use of Utah’s Olympic facilities, especially by children. His advice to Utah’s Olympic organizers? Think big.
- Planning for related projects underway: The governor and other Utah leaders are already brainstorming what projects could be tied to the upcoming Olympics, such as a hoped-for new vertical transportation system to move people above the ground in passenger drones, also known as “air taxis.” Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall is looking at 2034 as a deadline to put together a “Green Loop” of park space around downtown.
- Positioning to become a permanent host: With the International Olympic Committee lining up Winter Games hosts likely through 2038, any decision on establishing a rotation among a set group of cities or regions may be a decade away. But that hasn’t stopped Utah’s governor from touting Utah as ready to step up again and again as a Winter Games host. Cox said there’s talk of returning every 20 years or so to the same sites.
- Lessons learned at the Paris Olympics: By using spectacular historic sites like the palace at Versailles as venues, setting up free live sites throughout the city so residents could experience the Games, and selling pricey over-the-top hospitality packages, the French offered plenty of inspiration for Utah organizers. A miss for some Utahns was a segment of the Opening Ceremonies they saw as mocking the Last Supper.
- Contract change gives Olympic committee new out: A last-minute addition to Utah’s host contract would allow the International Olympic Committee to take the Games back if “the supreme authority of the World Anti-Doping Agency in the fight against doping is not fully respected or if the application of the World Anti-Doping Code is hindered or undermined” by the United States. The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee is taking the lead in trying to smooth over friction between U.S. and world anti-doping officials.
- Bid leader Fraser Bullock praised: Bullock, the bid committee’s president and CEO, committed himself to bringing the Olympics back to Utah after helping Mitt Romney run the 2002 Winter Games as “Mr. Inside.” The governor calls Bullock “a legend in the Olympic community,” adding that he’s “revered in Olympic circles. And I feel very confident in saying that we would not have the Games coming back were it not for Fraser.”
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
