SALT LAKE CITY — Lindsey Vonn, 17, was in awe of her competition and feeling the weight of her first Winter Olympics experience. Before she became one of the most decorated alpine skiers in the history of the sport, Vonn was just a kid hoping to stay on the track when she made her Olympic debut 22 years ago at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. She finished sixth in the all-around and 32nd in the slalom.
The influence of her previous experience at Utah was felt throughout her subsequent years of gilded dominance. So much so that she comes back every chance she gets. Before she retired in 2019 after a series of serious knee injuries, home was the suitcase she took with her around the world. Still, when asked where her home base is, she mentions a list of places, always making sure to include Utah.
Vaughn, 39, is a member of the Salt Lake City-Utah Olympic Committee. With the International Olympic Committee seemingly on the verge of awarding the Beehive State the rights to host the 2034 Winter Olympics, its second Olympics, Vaughn believes the sustainability model for the four-year event will shift to a rotational approach. She said Salt Lake City should be at the top.
“I think in this day and age, that’s no longer a viable blueprint,” Vaughn told Competitor recent. “We need to have a more sustainable option and I think Salt Lake City is the best Olympic option in the world right now.”
The future of the Winter Olympics is clouded by the governing body’s reluctance to be asked to spend billions on venues that will no longer be used after the three-week event ends. With snowfall falling in many countries around the world, climate change has wiped potential hosts off the map. The IOC can no longer assume that the Winter Olympics are an attractive event for potential host cities, or even that they can be held in many parts of the world.
Gone are the days when the IOC wanted an open competition between cities and countries to win bids. Now, the IOC has set up a Future Hosts Committee, which is responsible for touring potential host countries and forwarding its data and reports to the IOC Executive Board, which then decides whether to participate in IOC meetings. Admirals vote on their recommendations.
The International Olympic Committee’s Future Host Commission recently spent a week in Utah on an official visit, visiting tourism venues and hearing the recommendations the SLC-Utah Commission must make to resume the Games.
“This city and this region is a hidden treasure,” said Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi. “The rest of the world has memories of 2002, but this place has changed profoundly. This story needs to be told.
A quick Google search reveals the condition of former state-of-the-art Olympic venues that have become dormant homes for rodents, weeds and standing water.
In Rio de Janeiro, the aquatics center built for the 2016 Summer Olympics was turned into a hollowed-out stadium. The 35,000-seat Olympic Stadium in Pyeongchang, South Korea, built for the opening and closing ceremonies, is now just an amphitheater-shaped haystack – an empty one. South Korea spent a total of about $13 billion for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
In Tokyo, a gymnastics center built for the 2020 Summer Olympics unused and surrounded The same sign still hangs on the empty parking lot and gate with instructions to enter. It was paid for by Tokyo taxpayers and cost an estimated $180 million.
A so-called “white elephant” property requires high fees and extensive maintenance, and once completed, its value is next to nothing. They are scattered in cities around the world. Hosting the Olympics was once considered the highest honor in sports, but residents of Future City have realized it’s a waste of taxpayers’ money.
But it wasn’t wasted in Salt Lake City. Over the past 22 years, these venues have been maintained and used again and again.
The Olympic Speed Oval west of downtown has hosted speed skating World Cup and World Championship events. Utah Olympic Park in Park City has also been the site of alternating World Cup and World Championship bobsleigh, luge and skeleton races. The Soldier Hollow Nordic Center, 45 minutes outside Heber Valley, continues to host cross-country skiing and biathlon events. Various ski areas within an hour’s drive of the city center continue to host world-class freestyle skiing and snowboarding competitions. Since 2002, Utah has hosted more than 90 World Cup and World Championship Winter Olympic events.
“It’s great to see that instead of looking for useless stuff in the countryside, we’ve found excellent, just-used venues for the next Winter Olympics,” said Karl Storth, chairman of the IOC’s Future Hosts Commission.
Considered “climate reliable” and with existing venues, Salt Lake City is a leading candidate to host the 2034 Winter Olympics, just 32 years after hosting the 2002 Winter Games.
After the 2002 Games, the Utah Olympic Heritage Foundation assumed responsibility for venue maintenance and operations. After the Olympics, the foundation received $76 million in donations. As the IOC’s options continue to dwindle around the world, Utah’s Olympic legacy not only makes it a logical choice to return in 2034 and beyond.
“We have all the infrastructure. We have all the venues. We have the right altitude. We can do it economically wise by hosting the Olympics,” Vaughn said. “It’s a very different endeavor when you have to build essentially a complete Olympic stadium for all sports. It’s not the usual way it’s done. So you can see why we are the best choice for 2034 and beyond.”
During a stop by the IOC delegation, Storrs said Salt Lake City and Utah are models for future host cities around the world.
“We have to think about how to bring winter sports to all continents, not just the Americas,” Storrs said. “It’s a challenge for us to think about how we can inspire other countries and other national committees to participate in the Winter Olympics.”
While Salt Lake City is almost certain to be the host city in 2034, the International Olympic Committee’s Future Hosts Committee has yet to decide on a 2030 host city. The French Alps are currently in pole position. The IOC delegation said during the visit that finding suitable venues for the Winter Olympics will become more difficult in the coming decades, and IOC President Thomas Bach said last year that there will be fewer countries with suitable climates by 2040. to 10. The International Olympic Committee has had to set the venue for the last Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022, with many of the venues located between 45 and 75 miles away.
“It is now possible to think more broadly about how the 2034 Winter Olympics can be transformative,” said Jacqueline Barrett, the IOC’s director of future Olympics.
Utah Olympic organizers used the phrase “ready, willing and able” back in 2015. Everything is in place. The reality is, from a Winter Olympics perspective, Utah is probably 1-1.
SALT LAKE CITY-Utah Commission CEO Fraser Bullock estimates that the 2034 Olympics will cost about $2.4 billion and will not use taxpayer money but be funded privately.
The IOC may not find this happening anywhere else in the world, with the governing body admitting it is considering options for a rotating host system in the future.
“I think that’s definitely where things are going,” Vaughn said.
While Utah does have plenty of momentum and all the influence of the IOC right now, there are still some issues facing residents of the state.
Storrs said he’s read the SLC-Utah Commission’s climate report that said the commission could host the Winter Olympics by 2050, but beyond that, it’s a problem not just for Utah but for the world . Experts say the Great Salt Lake is shrinking due to climate change. If the Western Hemisphere’s largest saltwater lake continues to shrink, it’s a potential ecological disaster. The Utah Legislature spent about $1 billion on water protection to help the lake, even as a string of severe winters helped raise water levels.
“I think Salt Lake City is the best Olympic option in the world right now,” said Lindsey Vonn, a champion skier and current member of the SLC-Utah committee. (Tim DeValle/Getty Images)
On top of that, as winter storms become increasingly rare, the Wasatch Front—the towns including Salt Lake City that make up the increasingly sprawling foothills of the white-capped Wasatch Mountains—are vulnerable to winter inversions , trapping pollutants in the thick smog that often hovers over the area. Part of the organizers’ goals in their bid for the Olympics include running on 100% renewable energy by 2030 and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 50%.
While taxpayer dollars are not currently expected to be used to pay for the 2034 Games themselves, the continued growth Salt Lake City is experiencing is expected to bring more changes to the sports landscape. Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith recently purchased the relocation rights to the Arizona Coyotes for approximately $1.2 billion. Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall says the Utah Legislature has passed a $1 billion taxpayer bill that will transform downtown neighborhoods and help the NBA’s Utah Jazz and NHL teams placement.
in a recent interview CompetitorSmith said his decision to bring the NHL to Utah is the same as his hometown’s desire to bring the Olympics back to the second round.
“If you think about the Olympics and the way Salt Lake City bid for the Olympics, it’s very similar,” he said. “We are interested. We are ready. We are partners.
Storrs and the IOC delegation will prepare a report on Salt Lake City over the next two months and submit it to the IOC Executive Board in mid-June. Storrs hopes they can get the green light to bring it to the International Olympic Committee meeting in Paris in July to seal the worst-kept secret: The Winter Olympics will be held in Utah again. By the end of the interview, Bullock put on his best poker face.
“We’re looking forward to July 24,” Bullock said.
(Top photo of U.S. skier Picabo Street starting her downhill run at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics: Olivier Morin/AFP via Getty Images)
