Salt Lake City currently last one standing in 2030 Olympic bid

Luge World Cup, Park City, Utah Olympic Park. Photo: courtesy of FIL // Mareks Galinovskis

PARK CITY, Utah — The Sapporo, Japan 2030 Olympic Bid Committee has put a “pause” on its pursuit to host the Winter Olympics, according to Reuters. 

Results of investigations of bribery in obtaining the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics have led to arrests creating a scandal that future Games potential organizers cite has become too much of a distraction to overcome presently. Japan’s not completely removing its proposed host city of Sapporo from the 2030 bid process.

Shannon Barkhe, two-time Olympic moguls medalist, told TownLift, “As a member of the Salt Lake-Utah Committee for the Games, it’s disheartening when countries like Canada bow out of the 2030 bid process, which it recently did, as the Olympic Movement as a whole deserves as many participants around the world as possible. That said, Salt Lake is ready to put on another great Games.”

That means that Salt Lake remains the singular Host City with an active bid to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to host the 2030 Winter Olympic Games. The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) had already announced that if the IOC were to award a bid to the United States for an upcoming Winter Games, Salt Lake City would be its choice.

President of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, Frasier Bullock, told TownLift at a World Cup at the Utah Olympic Park (UOP) earlier this month that the prospect of Park City “hosting future Olympic Games” is so exciting.

The 2026 Winter Olympics are being held in the cities of Milan-Cortina, Italy. The Italian major metropolis and mountain town nomenclature bid award has many Utahns wondering whether, if Salt Lake City wins a 2030 or even a 2034 bid, it could lead to a trend in Games naming similar to a possible Salt Lake-Park City title.

No specific date has been set for any bid winner announcement.