Salt Lake City wins bid for 2034 Winter Olympic Games

PARIS, France — Salt Lake City won the bid for the 2034 Winter Olympic Games as they received the necessary affirmative votes from the International Olympic Committee at the 142nd session on Wednesday afternoon in Paris.

“We will work incredibly hard the next 10 years,” Governor Spencer Cox said. “Our commitment to you is that we will work to unify, not just the United States of America, but the entire world around sports again. Our world needs the Olympic and Paralympic movement now more than ever, and we will make you proud. To the people celebrating back at home, we’re back baby! The Olympics are coming back to Utah.” 

The Salt Lake City delegation that presented to the IOC consisted of Cox, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City, Utah Committee for the Games Fraser Bullock, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee chair Gene Sykes, four-time speed skating Olympian and Utah 2034 board chair Catherine Raney-Norman, Olympic champion and chief of athlete experience Lindsay Vonn and two-time Paralympian Dani Aravich. 

“We want to share our homes with you, with open arms,” Bullock said. “[The 2002 games] are more than just memories. For the people of Utah, they are living legacies. They remind us of the potential for our communities in 2034 and beyond.” 

Bullock shared the master plan for the games, including the intimate setting that Salt Lake provides with one Olympic village for all athletes. Further, each Olympic venue is within 60 minutes of the village, most being within 30. 

“Everything is in place. But beyond our physical assets, you can count on our people,” Bullock continued. “As great as our venues are, our people are even better.” 

The vision of the games presented by Bullock was simplified into one word: elevate. 

“Our goal is to elevate our communities, elevate sports, and elevate the games experience. The games have the ability to unite us and make a positive aspect in so many ways. We want to use the 2034 games as an opportunity to do good.” 

Photos courtesy of Steve Wright.

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During Cox’s presentation, he showed a live video of many Utahns camping out at Washington Square in the early hours of the morning to watch the session and noted that this announcement comes on the state of Utah’s biggest holiday.

“In our state, we have something special that we call ‘The Utah Way’,” Cox said. “The Utah Way prioritizes relationships over political party ideology or cultural differences to solve a collective challenge. That aligns very well with the Olympic movement itself. We both value excellence, respect and friendship.”  

Many members of the IOC showed their appreciation of the excitement shown among the locals, including IOC Future Host Commission chair Karl Stoss sharing a personal experience from the Salt Lake City airport earlier this year. 

“Enthusiasm for the games was always our feeling, from the first minute to the last minute, in every interaction we had. After our last visit in April, I went to the airport. I went into the departure hall and found an information desk to ask for my gate. The man rose his head and said ‘Hey! You are from the Olympics. Yes, man, bring back the Olympic Games to Salt Lake City!’ This is Salt Lake City, Utah.” 

Mayor Mendenhall shared that 80% of the Utah residents support the games coming back in 2034. “Our project has a lot to offer, but maybe the most important is the least tangible. That is the power of optimism and partnership. We’ve done our homework, we’ve laid the groundwork, and we are ready to start the real work alongside our Olympic and Paralympic partners.” 

Aravich recalled her experience at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics, where she was inspired to chase her dreams as a Paralympic athlete in both the summer and winter games. 

“My first prosthetic arm was made in Utah, but it was my love for sport that was truly fabricated there.” 

“As Olympic and Paralympic athletes, we share the extremes of human endeavor with the world,” Vonn said as she reflected on her experience at previous games and presented her plan as chief of athlete experience.  

“We have moments of disappointment that teach us and moments of pure magic as we celebrate at the end of a long athletic journey. But what matters most to us is being able to share those moments with our families. But often, athletes’ families can’t join the very dream they helped create.” 

Vonn stated that one of her biggest worries was ensuring that family members could see her compete. From transportation, accommodation, and tickets, Vonn remembers her focus being pulled in every direction – except for the competition. 

Vonn will strive to care for athletes’ families as they travel to participate in the Salt Lake City 2034 games through the new program called “Athlete Family Initiative”. Families will be helped with accommodations, tickets and transportation at fair costs, including an athlete family village. 

“Dreams are the fuel of our movement. Maybe that sounds like a clique, but it isn’t for us,” Raney-Norman said. “Athletes dream of standing on the podium, teams dream of proudly representing their countries, humanity dreams of the game’s power to unite the world, and Salt Lake City, Utah 2034 dreams of harnessing our passion and history to help forge a new future for the winter games. Our dream is a big one, but we are ready for it.”