Committee CEO Fraser Bullock reiterated that Salt Lake City has its sights set on becoming the host city for the 2030 Winter Olympics, but said other contending cities like Vancouver, Canada and Sapporo, Japan are also putting together strong bids.
The committee is currently in dialogue with the International Olympic Committee for the 2030 Games, and Bullock said Salt Lake could know whether it’s a preferred host city in December.
“So we have less than one year," he said. "We’ll have a pretty good idea where things stand six months from now. This is the intense part of the bid process. We have been extremely well prepared, we’ve done so much work in advance that we feel very comfortable where we are today.”
The IOC is expected to name a host for the 2030 Games at its general session next summer. If Utah is not awarded the 2030 Games, the committee will then pursue the 2034 Games.
Bullock said the committee believes Utah is an ideal host because all of the 2002 Olympic venues are still in use and have been improved, and are all located near Salt Lake City. He said Utah’s attractive economic climate and the fact that many of the people associated with the 2002 Games have come back to be involved again also strengthens the bid.
Bullock added that one of the biggest things working against a 2030 bid right now is the fact that Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Olympics. He said that presents an organizing challenge for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and could give the impression that the IOC is giving the United States preferential treatment.
Some residents in Park City have also worried that another Utah Olympics could do more harm than good to the area.
Park City Mayor Nann Worel is also the co-chair of the Host Venue Communities Committee with Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall. Worel said that discussion with the community is coming soon.
“I think we’re all in the same place where we’re just ready to launch our community conversations," said Worel. "We’re really eager to get into those. What I love about the larger committee is it lets me hear from other mayors in other areas how they’re engaging their communities. I think we can share best practices and we can learn from each other and I’m excited for Park City to get our regional committee together to really launch our conversations.”
Recent media reports in Europe have also called into question the preparedness of 2026 host Milan and Cortina, Italy. Some athletes have expressed frustrations with how spread out many of the venues are. Responding to other concerns, the Milan government has promised to crack down on mafia activity prior to and during the games.
Despite those concerns, Bullock said there has been “zero” dialogue with the IOC about Utah potentially serving as a backup site for the next Winter Olympics.
“The thing with an organizing committee, you just put your head down and work through them," Bullock said. "We had several [issues]. We had 9/11. We had a recession. We had other issues that came up and you just work through them and that’s what every organizing committee has done. Look at Tokyo and Beijing, they did amazing jobs in terms of working through a pandemic.”
The Utah committee’s next meeting with the IOC is scheduled for June 15 and 16.
