Utah has said it’s ready, able and willing to host another Olympic Games whenever called upon.
But is the region willing to make a habit of it?
The International Olympic Committee may be asking that question in the coming months after its executive board decided Tuesday to table a decision on where the 2030 Winter Games would be held and instead make a considerable pivot. With climate change eroding its options for Winter Games hosts, it has decided to seriously consider a rotation of Winter Olympics hosts. That means, if selected, Salt Lake City could be guaranteed to hold the Olympics perhaps every 20-30 years instead of having to rebid.
Jacqueline Barrett, the IOC’s director of future Olympic Games hosts, said the novel consideration “is to ensure there is a longtime future for winter sports and the winter sports industry.”
Among the considerations the IOC may make in determining what sites it will select for the rotation — if it does go that route — is whether the average temperature at the site over the past 10 years has been at or below freezing. Fraser Bullock, the CEO and president of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, said his group had previously done an analysis of the state’s viability to host through 2050 and that it met “all of the criteria.”
Read more at sltrib.com