The preferred host submission provides an overview of a potential 2034 Winter Olympics in Utah, including site plans and financial information. More documents, including contracts for venues, lodging and marketing, will be submitted in late March.
With the bid process now reaching the last steps, officials leading Salt Lake City’s push to host another Games anticipate a final decision this summer.
Members of the IOC’s future host commission are expected to visit Utah in April.
From there, if all goes well, the executive board of the IOC would motion for an election to grant the Games. Salt Lake City is the only bid the IOC has officially recognized for 2034.
Salt Lake City Committee for the Games President and CEO Fraser Bullock said the bid team would give a presentation to the entire IOC membership ahead of an election. Bullock said they anticipate a host election on the eve of the Paris Summer Games on July 24, better known in Utah as Pioneer Day.
“We’re excited for that,” Bullock said of the date. “The IOC understood the importance of that and kind of moved us a day to be able to do that.”
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox thanked the committee for its work Thursday.
“This is a submission that will make the citizens of Utah proud,” Cox said. “We are well represented, and we’re so excited to hopefully be all together on Pioneer Day in Paris signing the agreement that makes it official for Utah to be the host state and Salt Lake City to be the host city.”
USOPC member and former IOC Vice President Anita DeFrantz said there is still work to be done and nothing is guaranteed yet.
“I was just in Lausanne, and you’re being spoken of in glowing terms,” DeFrantz said. “We have to remember it still has to be an election and we’ve got to get the votes. So I’m confident we will, but it’s not quite a done deal.”
Bullock said the committee will likely release more information about venues in the coming weeks.
The IOC has identified the French Alps as the preferred host for the 2030 Games. Both the 2030 and 2034 Olympics are expected to be awarded in July.
