IOC Future Host Commission Starts Salt Lake Olympic Tour

While maintaining that nothing is official and there is still wiggle room, the latest step in Salt Lake City’s march to being formally awarded the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games started Wednesday with the start of a three-day tour by the International Olympic Committee’s Future Host Commission.

The Future Host Commission invited Salt Lake to targeted dialogue for 2034 in late November. After this week’s visit, the IOC Executive Board is expected to put Salt Lake City forward for election during its meeting June 12–14 ahead of the official announcement in Paris.

The Future Host Commission toured Rice-Eccles Stadium before a transfer on Salt Lake City’s light rail system to the Delta Center. Visitors plan to attend a community forum on Thursday morning before seeing Utah Olympic Park, Park City Mountain and Soldier Hollow before touring Snowbasin in Ogden and the Olympic oval on Friday.

“It feels like home,” Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi said Wednesday.

The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games officially submitted its bid to host the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in late February to the International Olympic Committee with an eye toward being officially announced as the host for a future Games on July 24 on Pioneer Day, the state’s official holiday, during the IOC Session in Paris ahead of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games.

“The enthusiasm that I’ve felt from all of your staff is energizing,” said Colin Grahamslaw, a member of the FHC and secretary general of the World Curling Federation. “We need to change our thinking of legacy from being buildings to people and sport. (And) the opportunities for youth are something the international federations want to work with you.”

SLC-Utah members emphasized the public support that currently is over 80 percent and 100 percent political support. All potential venues are under contract with a budget plan to break even with a legacy contribution to sport included.

“Who we are today is certainly different than who we were in 2002,” Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall told the Future Host Commission. “But there is so much of the 2002 legacy that is baked into the DNA of who we are as Salt Lakers and Utahns.”

Games Vision Outlined

Organizers also leaned into its vision of the Games as elevating communities, sport and the Games experience. SLC-Utah Board Chair Catherine Raney Norman told Future Host Commission members that athletes from over 30 countries currently train in Utah and having the 2034 Games will be “empowering the future by expanding youth sport participation” in the region.

Raney Norman also discussed details about plans for an athlete families village, an idea raised by Lindsey Vonn during an athlete feedback roundtable. The SLC-Utah plan calls for a location where families of athletes can stay and have access to ticketing, transportation and hospitality throughout the Games.

“We’re trying to launch a comprehensive and holistic family initiatives where athletes and their families from around the world,” Raney Norman said. “We see this not only a way to remove the ripples of disturbance (for athletes) but also to bring people together from across the world in one space.”

A series of buildings throughout downtown will be lit up in gold throughout the visit. The Utah Sports Commission is hosting a major volleyball tournament this weekend with nearly 10,000 athletes competing and said since the 2002 Games, it will have brought 11,000 sporting events to the region by the end of this year.

“Coming to be on the ground, see Utah first-hand, see the venues first-hand, is really important,” said Jeff Robbins, Utah Sports Commission president and chief executive officer. “We’ve done some incredible things here and we want to showcase that to them.”

The IOC’s earlier feasibility study on the Salt Lake bid praised its 2002 legacy, including 100 percent use of existing venues that were used in 2002 and still maintained with all venues within an hour of the athlete village at the University of Utah.

“The concept is exceptional,” Future Host Commission Chair Karl Stoss said of the venue plan. “This is one of the most important things for the IOC.”

After touring Rice-Eccles Stadium — proposed site for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies in 2034, as it did in 2002 — Stoss said “it’s an incredible stadium. It’s perfect for Closing and Opening Ceremonies, we see all the developments that has been done since 2002.”

Hosting the Olympic Games in 2034 would make Salt Lake City the fifth city to host the Winter Games twice, joining Lake Placid, New York (1932 and 1980); St. Moritz, Switzerland (1928 and 1948); Innsbruck, Austria (1964 and 1976) and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, which hosted the 1956 Games and will co-host the 2026 Games with Milan.

“Each time I come to this region, I hear a story of someone from 2002,” said Sarah Hirshland, chief executive officer of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. “You will see as you walk the streets over next week people who have hats and shirts and jackets that they’re still exceptionally proud to wear from 2002.”

Hirshland then paused before referencing 2034: “Our goal is to refresh the wardrobe.”