Bid for another Olympics in Park City improves as Japan drops out

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

Sapporo's Olympic bid effort had been 'soiled by massive corruption and bid-rigging tied to the delayed Tokyo Games' - the Associated Press reported

PARK CITY, Utah — The odds of Park City and Utah getting a 2030 Winter Olympics Games just increased as the Japanese Olympic Committee on Wednesday announced a decision to withdraw the northern Japanese city of Sapporo as a possible host of the Games.

Sapporo’s effort had been “soiled by massive corruption and bid-rigging tied to the delayed Tokyo Games,” the Associated Press reported. “Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto and JOC president Yasuhiro Yamashita, at a joint news conference in Tokyo, said they are withdrawing because of a lack of support from the citizens whose trust was largely lost.”

Sapporo had been seen as Park City’s and Salt Lake City’s biggest rival for another Olympics.

The Utah hosts are bidding for a 2030 or 2034 Games, with a preference for 2034 to avoid competing for U.S. sponsorships with the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles,

Fraser Bullock, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, applauded Sapporo for its “great efforts” as “a sister Olympic city,” the Desert News reported.

Sapporo hosted the Winter Games in 1972.

Additional coverage: What does it take to bring the Olympics back to Utah?

What does it take to bring the Olympics back to Utah?