2034 Winter Olympics

Multi-sport event in Salt Lake City, Utah, US

The 2034 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXVII Olympic Winter Games and branded as Salt Lake City–Utah 2034,^[a] is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area of Utah in the United States, from February 10–26, 2034.^[1] The Salt Lake City–Utah bid was elected at the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) 142nd Session in Paris on July 24, 2024, two days before the start of the 2024 Summer Olympics.^[2]

These will be the fifth Winter Olympics (and tenth overall) to be hosted by the United States. Salt Lake City previously hosted in 2002 32 years later and will become the fifth city to host multiple Winter Olympics, after St. Moritz (1928, 1948), Lake Placid (1932, 1980), Innsbruck (1964, 1976), and Cortina d'Ampezzo (1956, 2026 (with Milan)). It will be the first singular-city Winter Olympic host since 2022, as the expected preceding Winter Olympics will be multi-city hosted.

Bidding process

The new IOC bidding process was approved at the 134th IOC Session on June 24, 2019 in Lausanne, Switzerland. The key proposals, driven by the relevant recommendations from Olympic Agenda 2020, are:^[3][4]

• Establish a permanent, ongoing dialogue to explore and create interest among cities/regions/countries and National Olympic Committees for any Olympic event.
• Create two Future Host Commissions (Summer and Winter Games) to oversee interest in future Olympic events and report to the IOC executive board.
• Give the IOC Session more influence by having non-executive board members form part of the Future Host Commissions.

The IOC also modified the Olympic Charter to increase its flexibility by removing the date of election from seven years before the games, and changing the host from a single city/region/country to multiple cities, regions, or countries.

According to the Future Host Commission's rules of conduct, the new IOC bidding system is divided into two dialogue stages:^[5]

• Continuous dialogue involving non-committal discussions between the IOC and interested parties (City/Region/Country/NOC interested in hosting) with regard to hosting future Olympic events.
• Targeted dialogue with one or more interested parties (called preferred host(s)), as instructed by the IOC Executive Board. This follows a recommendation by the Future Host Commission as a result of continuous dialogue.

Host selection

On November 29, 2023, per the recommendation of the Future Host Commission, the IOC Executive Board invited the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to targeted dialogue, with Salt Lake City—Utah named the preferred host and sole candidate for the 2034 Winter Olympics.^[6][7]

During the 142nd IOC Session in Paris on July 24, 2024, Salt Lake City was elected as host of the 2034 Winter Olympics, via a referendum to the 95 IOC delegates.^[8]

Doping investigation controversy

The IOC insisted that Salt Lake City agree that it may "terminate Olympic host city contracts in cases where the supreme authority of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in the fight against doping is not fully respected or if the application of the world antidoping code is hindered or undermined." This was intended to undermine the United States Department of Justice's criminal investigation into the allegations that the World Anti-Doping Agency failed to sanction and covered up drug use by Chinese swimmers.^[9][10]

Development and preparations

The 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City had left a strong legacy, with venues constructed for the Games (such as Utah Olympic Park) having continued to host international events and world championships; in the 2013–14 period, Utah hosted 16 winter sports events, contributing $27.3 million to the state economy.^[11][12][13] The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee stated in 2022 that it was "already in dialogue with the IOC, not yet for a specific year but as part of their evolving process" over the possibility of Salt Lake City hosting a future Winter Olympics; the Committee had named Salt Lake City its preferred candidate for a future U.S. Winter Olympics in 2022, citing its existing infrastructure.^[14][15]

Venues

Utah Olympic Park, pictured in 2007, was originally built for the 2002 Games and is scheduled to host several events in 2034

All competition venues are existing ones and were previously used for the 2002 Winter Olympics.^[16][17]

Salt Lake City Cluster

Ogden Cluster

Mountain Cluster

Other Venues

Broadcasting

Domestically, NBCUniversal's ongoing agreement with the IOC expires at the end of the 2032 Summer Olympics. Reuters reported in 2022 that the IOC would wait "for the best market conditions" for the 2034 Games and beyond.^[18]

See also

• Olympic Games portal

• 2034 Winter Paralympics

• List of IOC country codes

References

Notes

1. Arapaho: Niico'ooowu' 2034; Gosiute Shoshoni: Tit'-so-pi 2034; Navajo: Sooléí 2034; Shoshoni: Soónkahni 2034

Citations

1. Gonzalez, Isabel (December 7, 2022). "IOC delays selection of 2030 Winter Olympics host after climate change and sustainability discussions". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
2. "IOC Session backs double award of 2030 and 2034 Winter Games". France 24. October 15, 2023. Archived from the original on November 9, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
3. "Future Olympic Games elections to be more flexible". International Olympic Committee. May 2, 2019. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
4. "Evolution of the revolution: IOC transforms future Olympic Games elections". International Olympic Committee. June 26, 2019. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
5. "Future Host Commissions: Terms of Reference" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. October 3, 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
6. "SLC named preferred host for '34 Winter Olympics". Sports Business Journal. November 29, 2023. Archived from the original on January 26, 2024. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
7. "The French Alps and Salt Lake City-Utah invited into respective Targeted Dialogues to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2030 and 2034". International Olympic Committee. November 29, 2023. Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
8. "What Utah bid leaders did the day after getting the 2034 Winter Olympics". Deseret News. July 25, 2024. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
9. Longman, Jeré; Panja, Tariq; Schmidt, Michael S. (July 24, 2024). "Salt Lake Awarded 2034 Olympics Under I.O.C. Pressure Over Doping Inquiries". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 25, 2024. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
10. Mann, Brian (July 24, 2024). "Olympic officials try to crush U.S. probes of China doping, threaten Salt Lake Games". NPR. Archived from the original on July 25, 2024. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
11. Hesterman, Billy (December 15, 2013). "Winter sports industry crucial to Utah economy". Daily Herald. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013.
12. "Salt Lake City still basking in 2002 Winter Games legacies". olympic.org. January 21, 2014. Archived from the original on August 7, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
13. Lee, Jasen (February 8, 2012). "Economic impact of 2002 Olympics still felt". KSL.com. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
14. "Salt Lake City gets go-ahead to bid for Winter Olympics". Los Angeles Times. December 2018. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
15. "Officials to meet next week to discuss 2030 Winter Olympic Bid in Salt Lake City". Inside the Games. February 10, 2022. Archived from the original on February 16, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
16. "IOC Feasibility Assessment of Salt Lake City-Utah 2034" (PDF). June 12, 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 23, 2024. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
17. Schoenbaum, Hannah (July 24, 2024). "Winter Olympians will compete at these 13 venues when the Games return to Salt Lake City in 2034". AP News. Archived from the original on July 24, 2024. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
18. "IOC in no rush to seal new U.S. broadcast deal for Games after 2032". Reuters. February 15, 2022. Archived from the original on April 25, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2024.