Asked what advice they would give ahead of Salt Lake City potentially hosting another Olympics in 2034, International Olympic Committee officials said Utah is on the right track and already has all the “ingredients” for a successful Games.
“Be bold and be ambitious,” responded Christophe Duby, the IOC’s executive director of the Olympic Games, challenging Salt Lake City to think about ways to include not just the entire state in the games, but the entire U.S.
What are the ‘big gears’ Utah needs to make for the 2034 Olympics?
However, he also said the Salt Lake City-Utah Olympic bid committee needs to hold back when it comes to the logistics of the games.
“Don’t set up the games yet,” Dubey said. “You have the places, you have the people. Once you have that, you have the ingredients to deliver the games. (But) it is urgent not to start too early. We can do that later.
Switzerland’s Duby said officials could focus on gaming operations, noting that advances in artificial intelligence over the next 10 years could help develop operational plans.
“Let’s not rush this,” he said.
Dubey’s comments came during a panel discussion Thursday morning at The George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater in downtown Salt Lake City. The panel, moderated by economist Natalie Gohnur, focused on how Utah has changed since the 2002 Winter Games and how the city and state could maximize the lasting impact of hosting another Olympics.
The 20234 Winter Games could bring $4 billion in economic impact to Utah
Gochnour, director of the Cam S. Gardner Institute of Policy at the University of Utah, estimated that another Winter Olympics would bring a cumulative economic impact of nearly $4 billion to the state, as well as 30,000 job-years of employment and $1.5 billion in personal income. However, Gochnur said economic value does not encompass all types of value.
Real impact, she said, “lives in people’s hearts and changes us,” she said. “It’s about hope, inspiration, confidence in ourselves.”
The discussion kicked off the second day of the IOC Future Host Commission’s tour of Utah and its proposed sites for the 2034 Olympic Games. On Wednesday, members of the commission toured Rice-Eccles Stadium. On Thursday, they traveled to Park City to tour Utah Olympic Park, Park City Mountain Resort and the Soldier Hollow event venues.
The visit by top sports officials to Utah comes as the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games bid is close to officially locking down the 2034 Winter Games. After their tour, the Future Hosts Committee is due to report back to IOC leaders , who will then decide whether to send the Games bid committee to the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for a final vote.
Salt Lake City has already been chosen as the preferred host for 2034, and there are no serious contenders. The final decision by the entire IOC body is expected to be announced on July 24, Utah Pioneer Day, in Paris before the start of the 2024 Summer Games.
While they wouldn’t go so far as to say Salt Lake City-Utah’s bid is guaranteed to be selected, Duby and Austrian IOC member Karl Stoss, who is also chairman of the prospective host committee, praised the state, pointing out that Utah remains in a strong position to host the Olympics again.
“I’m very impressed,” Stoss said of what he’s seen so far of Utah’s existing Olympic sites and the state’s willingness and ability to “innovate.” He applauded Salt Lake City officials for bringing the 2002 sporting events closer to Salt Lake City instead of requiring all events to be held in the mountains.
Unity, Stoss said, is one of the overriding goals of the Olympics, and he applauded Utah officials for embracing that both geographically and politically.
“It’s important for us, in our community, to show the world that sports is just one language,” Stoss said. “Universal language.”
Salt Lake City has changed since the 2002 Games, but confidence in hosting the Olympics has only grown
When asked how Salt Lake City and Utah have changed since the 2002 Winter Games, Duby and Stoss said the obvious changes are all around them — the growth of the city, its new skyscrapers, more businesses and restaurants and the large number of people, who now live downtown.
But what’s different above all, Duby said, is the city’s “confidence” to take on the world, having already done so before.
“Now you have what you didn’t have (in 2002), the confidence,” Dubey said. “Everything we’ve heard from everyone, from the elected world to business, to sports, is the confidence that has come out, especially when it comes to the games and how Utah can shine again.”
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said the Utah capital has undergone a “maturing” since the 2002 Winter Games. “It was a recognition of our place in the world and our potential.”
Fraser Bullock, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Games Committee, said the 2002 Olympics showed the world that Utah is a “hidden gem.” He said the world saw “not only our beautiful mountains but also our fantastic people”, adding that it demonstrated the state’s affinity for volunteerism and hospitality.
Mendenhall said that Salt Lake City is already “aligned with and absolutely complementary” to the Olympic movement, “and that we see the opportunity of the Games as a catalyst for better progress and maybe innovation beyond what we imagined our goals would be. “.
The mayor applauded Dubey’s council for not yet “fully predicting” what the 2034 Winter Games will look like, and that allowing the vision to take shape over the next 10 years will allow the city and state to ask Utahns what they want from hosting the The Olympics again.
“We’re going to continue to ask across the state,” Mendenhall said, “What do you want, Utah?”
The Utah News Dispatch, like the Idaho Capital Sun, is part of the States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. The Utah News Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Mackenzie Romero with questions: [email protected]. Follow the Utah News Dispatch on Facebook and Twitter.
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