The International Olympic Committee Future Host Commission is visiting sites in Salt Lake, Summit, Wasatch and Weber counties to check out potential 2034 Olympic venues. The trip begins Wednesday, April 10 in Salt Lake, moves to the Wasatch Back Thursday, April 11, hits northern Utah’s Weber County Friday, April 12, and wraps up Saturday, April 13, back in Salt Lake.
First up on the tour, the University of Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium followed by a ride on Utah Transit Authority’s TRAX train to the Delta Center downtown.
Tom Kelly, a spokesperson for Utah’s Olympic Committee, said the 2002 Olympics were the catalyst for the construction of TRAX light rail and Frontrunner. Utah’s bid committee wanted to showcase the rails to highlight the importance of transportation options and sustainability.
“Now that system is thriving, we have great light rail down in the valley. We also have a great regional transportation network with Frontrunner," Kelly said. "So we thought that we would give the IOC a little ride on a TRAX train.”
Thursday, April 11, the commission starts with a forum on Utah’s Olympic journey from 2002 to 2034. Next is the Wasatch Back for the Utah Olympic Park ski jumps and the 2002 Olympic Winter Games Museum. The group ends the day touring Park City Mountain and Soldier Hollow.
“Down at Soldier Hollow in Midway, the IOC will have an opportunity to actually try the biathlon shooting range using laser rifles, so that should be a fun stop,” Kelly said.
Friday, April 12, starts in Weber County where the commission will ride Snowbasin’s John Paul chairlift to see the men’s and women’s downhill tracks. After that, it’s the Utah Olympic Oval for skating facilities.
The visit ends Saturday, April 13, with a news conference in Salt Lake where the IOC future host commission and Utah’s bid committee will share observations and discuss the venue options. Kelly noted this is more of a business discussion as Salt Lake City has already been selected as the preferred host for the 2034 Games and is the only official host being considered.
The IOC will select a host for the 2034 Games on July 24 or Pioneer Day in Utah.
