Salt Lake City bid maneuvering into front-runner position to host the 2030 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games

Bode Miller Salt Lake City Olympic GS 2002, PHOTO GEPA

Utah Olympic bid leaders must be cautious about expressing their preferred interest in hosting the 2030 Winter Games, as opposed to 2034. However, behind the scenes, it is evident that their first choice for a second Olympics in the Wasatch Mountains is the earlier date. Mounting issues negatively affecting rival bids from Sapporo and Vancouver are boosting Salt Lake City’s chances

Bode Miller astonishingly charged from behind twice to win two Olympic silver medals. Lindsey C. Kildow (Vonn) made her Olympic debut at age 17, finishing sixth in the women’s combined. Ted Ligety, also 17, was a race forerunner. Ligety, the Park City native, was inspired toward future Olympic stardom, having witnessed the Olympic Games in his backyard.

The Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games were memorable for many athletic performances. They essentially launched the careers of these three U.S. stars. Many now believe there will be a new chapter of Olympic ski racing in Utah in 2030 or 2034.

There is a “real urgency to make this happen in 2030,” said one Utah sports official about the state’s ambitions to bring the Olympics back to Salt Lake City and the neighboring Wasatch Mountains.

Utah’s Olympic quest received a further boost from a well-received, 50-minute virtual presentation delivered by Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on November 22.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox said there were “no overt signs” that the IOC is leaning towards choosing Salt Lake City over Sapporo, Japan, for 2030. However, he affirmed: “We feel really confident. Again, there are two open spots one in 2030 and another in 2034. We feel very confident that we will get one of those spots.” The question is, which spot?

“This was our best meeting by far,” Cox added, addressing the Utah media. “The questions were just incredibly positive. The presentation was very well put together. It could not have gone better.”

Olympic bid team members make their case

The 2010 Olympic downhill champion Lindsey Vonn joined Cox in the Salt Lake City bid presentation, including Mayor Erin Mendenhall, Bid Committee President and CEO Fraser Bullock, and Chairperson Catherine Raney-Norman, a four-time Olympic speed skater. 

“The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee has taken strong input from athletes and I’m proud to be involved as chief of athlete experience,” Vonn tells Ski Racing Media. “I feel the core element of a single Athlete Village with a small Games footprint was well received.”

Vonn and the Utah bid team, including United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) Chief Executive Officer Sarah Hirshland, made their first visit to the IOC’s headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, in May. They met with IOC President Thomas Bach and the IOC’s Future Host Commission. 

Staunch support in Utah

Utah Governor Cox noted that the IOC’s Future Host Commission Chair Octavian Morariu is “very impressed” with a recent poll that determined 79% of Utahns favor bringing the Olympics back for an encore. Utah also boasts “the world’s greatest snow.”

An Olympic Winter Games return to Utah 28 years after it last welcomed the world in 2002 would surely create a ripple effect upon the growth and development of local and regional ski racing. As evidenced by Ligety, it will also spark new Olympic hopes and dreams.

“Having the Olympics in Salt Lake in 2002 was a huge part of my inspiration as a kid and the atmosphere was awesome,” Ligety said. “It was a big eye-opener for me to see the best in the world competing at their pinnacle and to see how they went about it and how relatable it was.”

Sapporo and Vancouver bids on icy slopes

Considering a bid scandal that rocked the Olympic world in the lead-up to the Salt Lake City 2002 Games, ironically, Utah’s chances for 2030 may receive a boost from an Olympic bribery scandal in Japan. Information continues to be disseminated concerning a scandal involving payments made to an executive of last summer’s Tokyo 2020 Games.     

One would assume that IOC leaders are exceedingly hesitant about awarding another Olympics to Japan.

Utah Governor Cox was asked how the turmoil might affect Japan’s bid and Sapporo’s chances over the coming months.

“Obviously, it’s unfortunate,” Cox responded. “We have friends in Sapporo. Again, the Olympic movement is very close all across the world. That’s between the Japanese delegation and the IOC to figure out those issues.”

The Japanese city of Sapporo previously hosted the Winter Olympics in 1972.

Salt Lake City’s other challenger, Vancouver, has its issues. 

In October, the British Columbia government announced that it “won’t support the bid because of its multi-billion-dollar cost.” The B.C. Minister for Tourism, Arts, and Culture said the government “cannot justify” the $1.2 billion in direct costs and $1 billion in liability risk “at a time when people are concerned about health care, safety and inflation.”

The Canadian bid – one embraced by the region’s Indigenous leaders, providing a unique approach – appears dead in the water.

The scandal in Japan, lack of government support in Canada, and conversely, a Utah bid that checks all the right boxes, especially its well-maintained Olympic legacy venues, elevate Salt Lake City as the frontrunner for 2030.

Marketing skis and surfboards together

Salt Lake City and its neighboring Park City ski resorts are now the logical choices for 2030. However, there are a myriad of other factors and moving parts to be considered.

The IOC has traditionally avoided awarding consecutive Olympic Games to one country. The burden on a nation’s Olympic Committee is significant and managing other commercial aspects is complicated.

U.S. Olympic Committee officials have stated that they prefer waiting until 2034 considering that Los Angeles is hosting the 2028 Summer Olympics.

The general thinking is that the back-to-back Games in the U.S. could complicate generating maximum domestic sponsorship revenue. Governor Cox asserts that Utah will “do whatever is best for the Games.” However, his comments seem motivated toward 2030, proposing a savvy, unconventional arrangement.

“There are challenges with ’28 being here in L.A.,” Cox admitted, but he also informed that the USOPC is evaluating “new and unique opportunities” with hosting consecutive Olympic Games. He also said, “Potential advertisers could have package deals maybe to bring in new and additional advertisers.”

It seems like a clever solution to open the door for the U.S. in 2030.

Timing on an IOC decision

Aspiring Olympic skiers, skaters, sledders, as well as U.S. winter sports leaders and enthusiasts, are hoping a decision for 2030, or even 2034, will be in the IOC’s cards. It will take longer than expected.

The IOC, not surprisingly, will move at its own pace. The postponement of an IOC session in Mumbai, India, from next May until September or October will cause delays. While the postponement is tied to reprimanding India’s embattled National Olympic Committee, the final confirmation for a 2030 Winter Games host, and potentially 2034, was expected to be finalized at this meeting.

A recommendation by the IOC Executive Board, based upon research and evaluation by the IOC Future Host Commission, was initially expected by the end of 2022. It seems it will now be pushed back to the first quarter of 2023.

Remembering Salt Lake City 2002

Click images to enlarge

Olympic ski racing at Park City Mountain Resort, Deer Valley and Snowbasin produced a diverse array of Olympic medalists. Athletes from nine countries won medals. Park City’s familiar World Cup piste, C.B.’s Run, was home to GS races. Deer Valley’s Know You Don’t was the scene for slalom races. Downhill and super-G events were contested on the unfamiliar Grizzly course at Snowbasin Resort.

Twenty-year-old Croatian Janica Kostelić was the biggest star of those Games. Kostelić raced to gold medals in alpine combined, giant slalom and slalom. She also sped to silver in the super-G. The Croatian remains the only alpine skier to win four medals at a single Olympics. 

Austrian Fritz Strobl won the men’s downhill at Snowbasin. France’s Carole Montillet was a surprise winner of the women’s event.

The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association set the ambitious goal to win ten medals in the lead-up to the 2002 Games. The number was more than 60% greater than their previous best of six at Nagano in 1998.

Bode Miller, freestyle skiers and snowboarders, combined to hit the lofty American target. The U.S. athletes attained precisely ten. Mission accomplished.

A star is born

A 25-year-old Miller captured the hearts of the fans charging to a pair of silver medals in the giant slalom and combined. He became the first U.S. male ski racer to win an Olympic medal in the GS and combined events. Miller also was only the second American man to win two medals at one Olympic Games. Tommy Moe also won two at Lillehammer in 1994.

Miller survived a near crash of 70 mph in the downhill portion of the alpine combined event. The New Hampshire native trailed Norwegian leader Kjetil André Aamodt by 2.44 seconds entering the slalom. Miller ascended the leaderboard to a silver medal with a strong first and perfectly executed second run of slalom.

The rising U.S. star also fought from behind to win giant slalom silver. Miller stood seventh after the first run but achieved absolute perfection in the second run. He clocked the fastest second run in the field, climbing the leaderboard for a second silver medal only behind Austrian winner Stephan Eberharter. 

“I left everything out there,” Miller said in the finish. “I didn’t have any more.”

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