SAM Magazine—Salt Lake City, Nov. 30, 2023—The International Olympic Committee (IOC) yesterday named Salt Lake City as the “preferred city” to host the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Once a preferred host has been selected, no other cities are permitted to apply to host the same Games, making Salt Lake now the sole candidate for 2034.

“What this means is we’re just one step away from bringing the Winter Games back to Salt Lake City,” said Salt Lake City mayor Erin Mendenhall to NBC affiliate KSL Channel 5. “We’re prepared for this deep dive, and I believe we can carry out another successful set of Games that unify our global community and do so with greater sustainability.”

Salt Lake, which hosted the 2002 Winter Games, was selected for a variety of reasons including existing infrastructure, strong support from the public and the local government, a master plan that puts all venues within 60 minutes of the Olympic Village, and its experience organizing international events on this scale.

“Our bid is as well prepared as any bid has ever been, since we’ve hosted the Games before,” Nathan Rafferty, president and CEO of the trade group Ski Utah, told SAM. “There are no large-scale infrastructure improvements that we need to make.” 

Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort, and Snowbasin all hosted Olympic events in 2002.

Also important was Salt Lake’s commitment to the sustainability principles outlined in the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020+5, which, among other enhanced sustainability goals, requires Olympic organizers “to make the most of existing and temporary venues, and to build new ones only when there is a proven long-term need.”

“[The IOC] mentioned one reason they love Salt Lake City is that it’s so compact and lends itself well to sustainability,” noted Rafferty. “I think we’re a model of that sustainability/legacy.”

Clean air is also a requirement. The Salt Lake City area is notorious for having poor air quality, but as part of the agreement the city has set goals to shift to 100 percent renewable energy by 2030, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 50 percent, as well as a comprehensive embrace of public transportation, according to KSL TV.

With the announcement, Salt Lake enters the “targeted dialogue” phase, in which all aspects of the project will be reviewed. The IOC will announce its final decision in July 2024, giving Utah nearly a decade to prepare if chosen.

“That’s the interesting thing,” said Rafferty. “Previous Games were announced seven years out, which allowed plenty of time, but not too much. From an industry perspective, it’s awesome we have an entire decade to talk about the Olympics coming here. And I think the business model will stay the same as 2002—[Utah] made money, no public money was spent, and it created a nest egg that went to an endowment to keep the venues up and running. It really was a good model.

“We’re super excited to see the games back in Utah and we’re happy that our resorts can be a catalyst for that event,” Rafferty added. “Nothing brings people together like sport, and we’re happy that the Utah ski industry can play a part in making that happen in 2034.”