Utah News Dispatch
Advice for 2034 Winter Games? ‘Be bold’ — but don’t hurry, IOC Olympic director says
International Olympic Committee officials and members of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games participate in a panel discussion at The George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City on April 11, 2024. (Katie McKellar/Utah News Dispatch)
When asked what advice they’d give ahead of Salt Lake City potentially hosting another Olympics in 2034, the International Olympic Committee officials said Utah is on the right track and already has all the “ingredients” for a successful Games.
“Be bold and ambitious,” answered Christophe Dubi, the IOC’s Olympic Games executive director, challenging Salt Lake City to think about ways to involve not just the entire state in the Games but also the entire U.S.
However, he also said the Salt Lake City-Utah Olympic Bid committee should pace itself when it comes to the Games’ logistics.
“Do not organize the Games as of yet,” Dubi said. “You have the venues, you have the people. Once you have that, you have the ingredients to deliver the games. (But) it’s urgent not to start too early. We can do that later.”
Dubi, of Switzerland, said officials can focus on Games operations, noting that artificial intelligence advancements over the next 10 years could help develop operating plans.
“Let’s not hurry on this,” he said.
Dubi’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 Gochnour, focused on how Utah has changed since the 2002 Winter Games — and how the city and state could maximize lasting impacts from hosting another Olympics.
Gochnour, director of the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, has estimated another Winter Games 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, Gochnour said economic value does not capture all types of value.
The true impact, she said, “lives in the hearts of people, and it changes us,” she said. “It’s about hope, inspiration, confidence in ourselves.”
The discussion kicked off the IOC Future Host Commission’s second day touring Utah and its proposed 2034 Olympic venues. On Wednesday, commission members toured the Rice-Eccles Stadium. Thursday, they traveled to Park City to tour Utah Olympic Park, Park City Mountain Resort and Soldier Hollow venues.
The Olympic Rings are pictured outside Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Monday, January 15, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
The top sports officials’ visit 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 Host Commission is slated to submit a report to IOC leaders, who will then decide whether to send the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games’ bid for a final vote.
Salt Lake City has already been selected as a 2034 preferred host, and it faces no serious competitors. A final decision by the full IOC is expected to be announced on July 24, Utah’s Pioneer Day, in Paris ahead of the start of the 2024 Summer Games.
While they would not go as far as to say the Salt Lake City-Utah bid is guaranteed to be chosen, Dubi and Austrian IOC member Karl Stoss, who is also chairman of the Future Host Commission, were complimentary of the state while indicating 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 venues, as well as the state’s willingness and ability to “innovate.” He applauded Salt Lake City officials for bringing 2002 sporting events closer to Salt Lake City rather than requiring all events to be held in the mountains.
Unity, Stoss said, is one of the prevailing goals of the Olympic Games, and he applauded Utah officials for embracing that both geographically and politically.
“This is important for us, in our community, to show the world that sport is just one language,” Stoss said. “A universal language.”
When asked about how Salt Lake City and Utah have changed since the 2002 Winter Games, Dubi and Stoss said the obvious changes are all around them — the city’s growth, its new skyscrapers, more businesses and restaurants, and the sheer number of people now living downtown.
But what’s different most of all, Dubi said, is the city’s “confidence” in hosting the world, having already done it before.
“You now have what you didn’t have (in 2002), the confidence,” Dubi said. “Everything we’ve heard from everyone, from the elected world to business, sports, is the confidence that transpired, especially when it comes to the Games and how Utah can shine again.”
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said Utah’s capital has undergone a “maturation” 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 Committee for the Games, said the 2002 Olympics showed the world that Utah was a “hidden gem.” He said the world saw “not only our beautiful mountains, but our fantastic people,” adding that it showcased the state’s affinity for volunteerism and welcoming.
Mendenhall said Salt Lake City is already “in alignment and absolutely complimentary” of the Olympic movement, “and that we see the opportunity of the Games as a catalyst to better advance and maybe innovate beyond what we had imagined our goals to be.”
The mayor welcomed Dubi’s advice to not yet “completely predict” what a 2034 Winter Games would 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 Olympics again.
“We’re going to keep asking across the state,” Mendenhall said, “What do you want, Utah?”
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