SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Here’s the first number: 10. That’s how many years will pass before Salt Lake City, Utah, can actually roll out the red carpet to the world for the 2034 Winter Olympic Games.
By the time that’s done, however, Utah officials will have spent decades of putting together their official bid and trying to figure out the Games’ economic, logistical, and infrastructural impacts on the Beehive State.
One factor in the city’s favor is that it previously hosted the Winter Games in 2002. The fact that Salt Lake City and Park City still have all the functional venues from the last Games worked in their favor in Wednesday’s vote. The International Olympic Committee voted 83-6 to bring the Games back to the U.S. for the fifth time since the Winter Games started in 1924.
Dates
The 2034 Winter Olympics are scheduled for Feb. 1 through Feb. 26, 2034. The Paralympic Games are set for March 10-19, 2034.
When they return to Utah, it will have been 32 years since the 2002 Games.
Econonics
According to Utah Committee for the Games Communication Lead Tom Kelly, the operating budget for the 2034 Games is estimated to be $2.83 billion — almost identical to the 2002 budget, not adjusted for inflation. The fact that Utah still has all of 2002’s venues — and that they’ve remained in use as training facilities — has helped to keep costs down. No new permanent construction is expected. One temporary facility is expected to be used.
Over 30 nations still come to Utah every year to train in winter sports. The Utah Sports Commission has estimated those venues have brought in $4 billion in economic value since 2002.
A study released earlier this month by the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute — which was quoted this morning before IOC members — estimated the Games could have a $6.6 billion economic output for Utah. Over $2 billion of that could go into Utahns’ pockets as income. The Games could stimulate $3.9 billion in “state gross domestic product,” according to the report. Over 42,000 employment job years will be put into the Games.
Sports and venues
The 2034 Games will be one of the most compact in history, venue-wise, according to Kelly. All venues will be within a one-hour drive of the Athlete Village at the University of Utah campus. Most are less than 30 minutes away.
In 2002, Salt Lake City produced 78 Olympic events involving 2,399 athletes from 77 nations. Kelly said in 2034, the number of events could grow by 40%.
A total of 15 venues built or used in 2002 are still in operation, including:
OIympic Venues
- Block 85: Medals Plaza, Freestyle, and Snowboard Big Air
- Deer Valley Resort: Freestyle Aerials and Moguls
- Delta Center: Figure Skating, Short Track Speedskating
- Park City Mountain: Freestyle and Snowboard Halfpipe and Slopestyle
- Snowbasin Resort: Alpine Skiing
- Maverik Center: Ice Hockey
- Peaks Arena: Ice Hockey
- Rice-Eccles Stadium: Opening Ceremony, Closing Ceremony
- Salt Palace Convention Center: Curling, Main Press Center, International Broadcast Center
- Soldier Hollow Nordic Center: Cross-Country, Biathlon, Nordic Combined
- Snowbasin Resort: Alpine Skiing
- University of Utah: Athlete Village, Athlete Family Village
- Utah Olympic Oval: Long Track Speedskating
- Utah Olympic Park: Bobsled, Freestyle Skicross, Luge, Nordic Combined, Skeleton, Ski Jumping, Snowboard Parallel, Snowboardcross
Paralympic Venues
- Block 85: Medals Plaza
- Maverik Center: Para Ice Hockey
- Rice-Eccles Stadium: Opening Ceremony, Closing Ceremony
- Salt Palace Convention Center: Wheelchair Curling, Main Press Center, International Broadcast Center
- Snowbasin Resort: Para Alpine Skiing
- Soldier Hollow Nordic Center: Para Nordic
- University of Utah: Athlete Village, Athlete Family Village
- Utah Olympic Park: Para Snowboard
The Past
Prior to the 2002 Games, Salt Lake City made at least seven previous bids to host:
- 1932 Games: Lost to Lake Placid, N.Y.
- 1972 Games: Lost to Sapporo, Japan.
- 1976 Games: The U.S. Olympic Committee chose Denver, Colo., for the American bid though taxpayers there declined to fund the games. After, Salt Lake put in another bid, which the USOC backed, but ultimately lost to Innsbruck, Austria, amid the fallout over Denver’s failure.
- 1992 Games: USOC backed Anchorage, Alaska, over Salt Lake. Anchorage lost to Albertville, France.
- 1994 Games: USOC backed Anchorage, Alaska, over Salt Lake. Anchorage lost to Lillehammer, Norway.
- 1998: Lost to Nagano, Japan.
- 2002: Won. Hosted.
Even though Salt Lake City got caught in a bribery scandal that nearly derailed the 2002 Winter Olympics, it has worked its way back into the good graces of an Olympic committee increasingly reliant on passionate communities as its options dwindle. Salt Lake has become a prime candidate if officials eventually form a permanent rotation of host cities, Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi told the Associated Press.
More than $16 million was ultimately spent on Utah’s Olympic bid for the 2002 games. Officials say they were attempting to follow Nagano, Japan’s footsteps in wining and dining IOC officials to win the 1998 Games. Japan spent $14 million on their bid, including $4.4 million on entertainment alone, according to Deseret Morning News, something the Japanese government admitted to in 2006.
“The International Olympic Committee needs Salt Lake City a lot more than Salt Lake City needs the International Olympic Committee or the Olympics,” said Jules Boykoff, a sports and politics professor at Pacific University.
In all, 10 IOC members were expelled from the scandal. Another 10 were sanctioned. Nothing illegal was done, though the ethics were found to be dubious.
Future Games
The following are all future dates for the Games that have been awarded by the IOC:
- 2026: Milan, Italy
- 2030: French Alps
- 2034: Salt Lake City, Utah
- 2038: Switzerland (Officials here are only under “privileged dialog” at the moment, and the Games have not been awarded.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
