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Salt Lake City confirmed host of 2034 Olympic Winter Games amid criticism of U.S. anti-doping interference

Salt Lake City will leverage many of the well maintained venues used for the 2002 Winter Olympics to deliver a no-build Games for 2034

Salt Lake City-Utah 2034 President Fraser Bullock presents Winter Olympics bid plans to IOC members at the 142nd IOC Session in Paris July 24, 2024 (IOC media screen capture)
Salt Lake City-Utah 2034 President Fraser Bullock presents Winter Olympics bid plans to IOC members at the 142nd IOC Session in Paris July 24, 2024 (IOC media screen capture)

Reporting from Palais des Congrès in Paris, France – Salt Lake City, Utah has been elected to host the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 142nd Session in Paris Wednesday.

Of 95 cast votes, 83 voted for the bid and 6 were against. There were 6 abstentions.

The results were widely expected after the IOC Executive Board singled out the bid as the preferred candidate last October and delivered several highly positive reports after the bid submitted its complete dossier with guarantees ahead of planned deadlines. A site visit by the IOC Future Host Commission in April solidified the inevitable relationship

The final presentation was anchored by bid president Fraser Bullock and the entire delegation offered wide smiles when live video from Salt Lake City showed a large group cheering as they watched the proceedings on a big screen. Olympic fans were lining the streets at 3:00 am in the Utah capital for a viewing party and to get a good position for the later Pioneer Day Parade on the major state holiday.

Tainting the election were concerns and lengthy questions from IOC members about the negative involvement of U.S. politicians in international anti-doping efforts. IOC Vice President John Coates told members mechanisms were added to the host city contract to terminate the agreement if the host region interfered with the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA), but he added that action didn’t seem warranted at the moment.

The concern surrounded recent news that the United States government subpoenaed an administrator from World Aquatics for information on a high profile doping case involving Chinese swimmers who were allowed to compete after testing positive.

Bullock, along with USOPC Chair Gene Sykes and Utah Governor Spencer Cox responded to members by offering a partnership and full cooperation on the issue.

Prior to the vote, IOC President Thomas Bach apologized to the Salt Lake City delegation for the issue, that he said had nothing to do with the bid, had surfaced.

At a press conference following the vote, Bullock said that although he and his team knew the issue was emerging on July 12, they weren’t expecting it to be a serious issue at the Session.

He said it was “completely unexpected” describing the issue as  “not part of our problem but part of our country’s problem.”

Organizers will have almost 10 years to prepare for the Games, a record for the Winter edition. French Alps was elected to host the 2030 edition earlier Wednesday, conditional on receiving a signed Olympic Delivery Guarantee from the new Prime Minister by October 1, 2024.

The election comes after over a decade of planning from Salt Lake City that led to a 2018 nomination from the United Stated Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC).

Salt Lake City will leverage many of the well maintained venues used for the 2002 Winter Olympics to deliver a no-build Games for 2034. Transport upgrades are already planned for the region along with a possible new arena, but organizers and the IOC say that they are not required to stage the Games.

A first-ever athletes’ family Olympic Village is also promised for the Games.

The bid has consistently received around 80 percent support across the state in various polls.

More to come as this story develops…

A senior producer and award-winning journalist covering Olympic bid business as founder of GamesBids.com as well as providing freelance support for print and Web publications around the world. Robert Livingstone is a member of the Olympic Journalists Association and the International Society of Olympic Historians.

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