PARIS — Salt Lake City will once again play host to the world after being awarded the 2034 Winter Olympics.
During its meeting Wednesday in Paris, the International Olympic Committee voted to bring the Games back to Utah after a decade-long process that returns the Olympics to the Beehive State for the first time since 2002.
Video below shows moment SLC announced as winner of 2034 Games:
Vote Announcement
IOC president Thomas Bach made the announcement, holding up a sheet of paper that proclaimed Salt Lake City had been awarded the Games.
The 83-6 vote in favor of Salt Lake City came after the bid committee put forth a 40-minute presentation to IOC members touting the benefits of being the competition back to the Wasatch Front.
“Everything is in place,” SLC-UT President and CEO Fraser Bullock told the IOC. “We’re ready to deliver extraordinary Games.”
Gov. Spencer Cox followed Bullock, saying hello to Utahns back home who have generally supported the 2034 bid.
“I bring the greetings and aspirations of three-and-a-half million citizens of Utah who love the Games and can’t wait to host them again,” said Cox during the presentation. “You see, we have a history together. We’ve been good partners before and you can count on us.”
David Goldman/AP
Other speakers included Olympian Lindsay Vonn, as well as Salt Lake City Paralympian Dani Aravich, athletes who reached great heights in competition, which is the focus of the Utah bid.
“Dreams are the fuel of our movement. Maybe you’ve heard that before. Maybe that sounds like a cliche, but it isn’t for us,” explained Catherine Raney Norman, Board Chair of SLC-UT 2034.
What was set to be a simple coronation of Salt Lake City became tangled up by the IOC. Bach is angry that the FBI is investigating the World Anti-Doping Agency’s decision to accept China’s explanations for positive drug tests of 23 swimmers before the Tokyo Olympics.
The IOC got promises from U.S. Olympic officials and Utah contingent to accept a new clause that lets the Olympic body terminate Salt Lake City’s deal if the authority of WADA was undermined.
David Goldman/AP
It was an unprecedented move by the IOC that seemed to send a message the FBI should back away from the Chinese swimmers’ case. It can be investigated in the U.S. under federal legislation named for a whistleblower of Russian state doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.
The news was met with uproarious cheer in Utah, even though the announcement came during the overnight hours. Hundreds gathered in Washington Square in Salt Lake City to watch the bid presentation and awarding of the 2034 Games live on giant screens.
Although the local bid committee was hesitant to appear presumptuous ahead of Wednesday’s vote, it had been widely expected for months that Salt Lake City would win back the Winter Olympics, especially after an IOC committee visit in April in which members could not stop gushing over the city’s bid.
A head nod to Utah being favorites came when the IOC announced the awarding of the 2034 Games would come on July 24, the date on which residents celebrate the state holiday of Pioneer Day.
In 2018, Salt Lake City was chosen to be the U.S. host city when the United States Olympic Committee decided to bid on a future Winter Games. It did not become clear that 2034 would be the target until more recently.
Salt Lake City’s bid was enhanced against other competitors by it being privately financed with no need to build competition venues as those used during the 2002 Winter Olympics are still in place.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
