Salt Lake City will once again host the Olympics after the International Olympic Committee formally awarded the 2034 Winter Games to the United States on Wednesday. The French Alps have also been mentioned as a host for the 2030 Games, but with conditions and approval from France’s next prime minister.
Salt Lake City, the capital of Utah, was the only candidate the Olympic committee considered for 2034. Climate change and high operating costs have reduced the number of cities willing and able to host the Winter Games. Utah has taken advantage of low interest elsewhere and presented itself to Olympic officials as an eager repeat host if the committee moves forward with a proposed permanent rotation of Winter Olympic cities. Olympic Games Executive Director Christophe Dubi had said Salt Lake City would be a strong candidate for such a plan.
The campaign team that presented the bid on stage to the IOC members included Utah Governor Spencer Cox and American skiing legend Lindsey Vonn.
Salt Lake’s final approval brings the Winter Games back to the city, 32 years after they were held in 2002. Remnants of the 2002 Games can still be found throughout the city. Organizers of the 2034 Games praised that continued enthusiasm during the selection process and showed visiting Olympic officials how they’ve preserved the venues used in 2002. The 2034 Games won’t require any new permanent construction, as all 13 venues are already in place.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron helped present the Alpine bid to IOC members and assured that the national government in power after Paris 2024 will sign all organizational guarantees that have yet to be signed.
The IOC members accepted Macron’s assurances and gave their approval by 84 votes to 4, with seven members abstaining.
“We want to thank you for your trust,” Macron said in a brief acceptance speech. “We will be there and we will honour our commitments.”
National governments in host countries of the Olympic Games must formally commit to financial and security commitments that are essential to the organisation and delivery of the Games.
The IOC set an Oct. 1 deadline for the next French prime minister to sign a document guaranteeing key promises for the 2030 project. The national assembly elected this month must ratify that document by March 1, IOC President Thomas Bach said.
The guarantees sought by the IOC have not been feasible in France in recent weeks due to the early parliamentary elections called by Macron, which ended on July 7.
The French bid for 2030 was the only candidate and focused on ski resorts in the French Alps and ice sports venues in the coastal city of Nice.
The 2030 Winter Olympics will take place just five and a half years before the scheduled opening ceremony, making it the shortest preparation time of any modern Olympic Games.
Macron and the candidate officials acknowledged the challenges that climate change poses for winter sports.
“We now have to think of a new model, a sustainable model, for people who live in the mountains,” Macron said. “We believe in the future of the Winter Games. We believe in the future of our mountains.”
France has hosted the Winter Olympics three times: the first edition in 1924 in Chamonix, 1968 in Grenoble and 1992 in Albertville.