Salt Lake City and the wider Winter Olympic region in coming days could advance to another phase of the discussions with the International Olympic Committee about hosting a second Games, something that, if it occurs, would put the capital city, the Park City area and other communities involved in the efforts on the precipice of a selection for the Games of 2030 or those of four years later.
The Executive Board of the IOC is scheduled to meet in Paris from Wednesday until Friday with a presentation by the Lausanne, Switzerland-based organization’s Future Host Commission scheduled on the first day. The Future Host Commission holds a key role in the early stages of the selection process of Olympic cities.
The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, which is the group leading the efforts to secure a second Olympics in the state, hopes the IOC during the meetings in Paris invites Salt Lake City into a phase of the selection process known as a targeted dialogue. The IOC and a potential host city during a targeted dialogue engage in a detailed review of the plan to stage a Games. It does not entail the awarding of an Olympics, but a city that advances to the targeted dialogue phase with the IOC is seen as a leading contender for a later selection as host.
“It’s a very definitive step forward toward a potential Games award,” Fraser Bullock, the president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, said in an interview about the targeted dialogue phase.
A press conference by the IOC is scheduled Wednesday morning, Mountain Standard Time.
An awarding of the Games of 2030 could occur in the summer, just before the Summer Olympics open in Paris in July, with the possibility the host of the 2034 event will also be named at that time.
The leaders of the Salt Lake City efforts have long preferred hosting the Olympics in 2034 rather than in 2030. There is concern about an overlap in fundraising between the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and an organizing committee preparing for a Winter Olympics in Utah just two years later. The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, though, has also indicated for some time it could stage the event in 2030 if need be.
The agenda for the Executive Board on Wednesday runs from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., Central European Time, eight hours ahead of Mountain Standard Time. The Future Host Commission presentation is scheduled at the end of the meeting, followed by the press conference.
The statements made by the IOC during the press conference will be closely watched in the Park City area and in other places involved in the Games work. The question of whether the Games of 2030 or those of 2034 are best suited for the state has loomed over the discussions for more than a year. The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, the Statehouse, local governments and others will be able to begin crafting timelines for preparations once the year is known.
Years of work in the era after the 2002 Winter Olympics put Salt Lake City in line to host a second Games. The talk of another Winter Olympics started just after the cauldron was extinguished in 2002, and in the 20-plus years since then the state positioned itself as a winter-sports capital. The backers of the effort point to a culture of winter sports in the state and the continued heavy use of the athletic venues from 2002.
The Park City area would have an outsized role in a second Games, as was the case 21 years ago. Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park — each hosting competitions in 2002 — are identified as important athletic venues on the concept map for another Winter Olympics. Park City and surrounding Summit County would also be crucial to the transportation, security and celebration planning.
City Hall and County Courthouse leaders are working alongside the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, which is also engaging the identified competition venues in discussions that are expected to result in agreements to stage Games events at the individual venues. The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, meanwhile, is securing lodging contracts in the Park City area and elsewhere for the periods of the Games of 2030 and 2034.