Salt Lake City finalizing Winter Olympic Games bid, leaning towards 2034

Olympic rings in in front of the International Olympic Committee Building in Lausanne, Switzerland. Photo: International Luge Federation // Facebook

SALT LAKE CITY – In a strategic board meeting held on Wednesday, the committee responsible for organizing Salt Lake City’s Olympic bid shared a full progress and timeline update as well as their preference to host the winter games in 2034.

Fraser Bullock, the current president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, said in a press conference, “The plan is pretty much ready and it was approved to be submitted to the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee. This is a huge step forward and we are very excited about it.”

The plan comprised of “thousands” of pages of details on all the logistics, infrastructure, and venues a host city would utilize to host the games. Bullock went on to say, “We are open to hosting the Games in 2030 or 2034, 2034 would be our preferred choice.” He went on to cite a proximity challenge with Los Angels, where the 2028 summer games will be held, saying, that with the 2034 games “We don’t have the back-to-back challenge” of hosting both summer and winter games in the country, including challenges with financial sponsors.

The plan is slated to be submitted in June, giving the SLC Committee time for feedback leading up to the IOC meeting in October, where the Host City of the 2030 and 2034 games will be discussed.

Salt Lake City Mayor, Erin Mendenhall shared her enthusiasm for hosting the Winter Games and is “Very impressed with the work that has been done thus far we are on the right track.”

Timeline & Key Milestones

• June – Submit preferred host document
• June – September : Feedback & Secure country’s endorsement
• October – International Olympic Committee Board meeting, discussion of award
• December – PENDING – Enter Preferred dialog stage, once designated as the preferred host

It is expected that by the end of this year Salt Lake City will know with much greater certainty if the 2030 or 2034 Winter Games are coming back Salt Lake City. Sapporo, Japan, and Stockholm, Sweden are the other country’s Salt Lake City will be formally bidding against for the Winter Games.

A recent poll released by Deseret News states that Nearly 80% of Utahns said they approved of the state hosting another Winter Olympics.