What may be Utah’s final pitch for the 2030 or 2034 Winter Games focused on how hosting another Olympics in the state could help an increasingly troubled world, Gov. Spencer Cox said.
“Utah is a place where they can have confidence that not only can we pull off a Games, but we can focus on the things that matter,” Cox said after participating in Tuesday’s virtual presentation to the International Olympic Committee’s Future Host Commission.
The commission, scheduled to recommend to the IOC Executive Board on Nov. 29 which bids should advance to the next stage of the bid process , also heard from a trio of late-entry bids for 2030, from Sweden, Switzerland and France.
The Utah bid team’s message to the commission, the governor told the Deseret News, was that another Winter Games here would be “unifying, bringing people of diverse backgrounds together to celebrate sport and to find the very best in humanity.”
That’s critical given that “we don’t know what the world’s going to look like in 2034. The trajectory we’re on, it’s probably going to be even more chaotic,” said Cox, who is leading a campaign to “Disagree Better” as chairman of the National Governors Association.
Utah’s experience hosting the 2002 Winter Games has readied the state for the challenge, the governor said.
“The first time you do an Olympics, it’s all about just surviving, just making sure it all works and the events happen,” he said. “We don’t have to worry about that. We know we can already do it, which means we get to focus on bigger and better things.”
Also emphasized during what was about a 40-minute presentation was the extensive work already being done to be ready for another Olympics, including signing contracts to re-use the 2002 venues and securing required government guarantees.
“There is no city on earth more prepared for an Olympics right now,” the governor said, noting that commission members asked no hard questions but offered “so many compliments.”
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, who also participated in the virtual presentation even though it was held on Election Day, said during the 15 minutes of questions from the commission members, “we heard they feel our passion.”
There was “a good deal of resonance, that the message that we brought was well-received,” the mayor said. Her focus, she said, was on how another Olympics would elevate the community, including by “driving sustainable change.”
The presentation was emotional for Fraser Bullock, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games that’s behind the bid. Bullock had served as chief operating officer of the 2002 Olympics.
“What a fantastic day,” Bullock said after the presentation, his voice breaking. “This is the culmination of years and years of work. ... Our strategy has always been to stay ahead of the process, to be incredibly prepared, so they see they can count on us.”
Salt Lake City, the site of the 2002 Games, has been bidding to host another Olympics for more than a decade. Bullock said he’s “confident that we put absolutely our best foot forward that we could have done today in representing the people of Utah.”
He also said he believes the IOC Executive Board, which meets Nov. 29-Dec. 1, will be ready then to advance contenders for the 2030 and 2034 Winter Games to the next stage of the bid process, “a very significant step.”
Almost a year ago to the day, Utah’s bid team made a similar presentation to the same IOC commission with the expectation that the Switzerland-based organization’s leaders would soon choose between Salt Lake City; Sapporo, Japan; and Vancouver, Canada.
Instead, last December the IOC Executive Board delayed a decision, opening the door to new bids while launching a study on the impacts of climate change that could eventually lead to rotating the sites of future Winter Games.
Now, Sapporo and Vancouver are no longer in the running due to struggles with support for their bids, and Salt Lake City has been described by the IOC as the only contender also seeking to host in 2034
Utah bidders have said they’re willing to host in 2030 if needed but want to wait until the later date to avoid competing for domestic sponsors with another U.S. Olympics, the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
Last month, the IOC backed allowing the 2030 and 2034 Winter Games to be awarded at the same time, setting the stage for the Executive Board that meets next week to advance its picks, with a final vote by the full membership coming some time in 2024.
Under the IOC’s new, less formal selection process, contract negotiations to host an Olympics take place during what’s known as “targeted dialogue,” although there’s nothing preventing multiple bids from being advanced to that stage.
It’s possible that Salt Lake City could advance next week and end up being chosen to host in 2030 if the IOC doesn’t see a viable alternative. Or, the IOC could still choose to name European cities to host in both 2030 and 2034.
That’s not considered likely, since Italy is hosting the 2026 Winter Games, in Milan and Cortina, and North America has not been the site of a Winter Games since 2010 in Vancouver.
Mendenhall said there was no discussion Tuesday about Salt Lake City being the only bid for 2034, although members of the commission “mentioned that they are hopeful for more news for us from the IOC Executive Board meeting next week.”
Even though moving into targeted dialogue doesn’t ensure another Olympics for Utah, the mayor said it would be “absolutely something to celebrate. I think it’s the next step in our process to guarantee a Games.”