Park City Council members briefly spoke about the opportunity for a second Winter Olympics in Utah on Thursday, a day after the International Olympic Committee invited Salt Lake City alone into the next phase of discussions for the 2034 Games.
The elected officials were not scheduled to address the Games during a meeting at the Marsac Building, and the comments were not meant to delve into details.
City Councilor Max Doilney noted the Winter Olympics in 2034 would follow those of 2002, when many of the competitions were held in Park City and the surrounding area.
“With this bright light at the end of the tunnel, we get to welcome the world and we get to show them how we do things here in Park City. We have a really unique opportunity to be a place that’s held the Olympic Games twice. You don’t get to go anywhere in the world and really have that — there’s a couple places,” he said.
Doilney said the Olympic efforts can be shared with newer residents of Park City.
“We all get to be part of the Olympic spirit. The Olympic movement is something we can all rally around. And I really look forward to the community sort of coming together around this mission that is so exciting,” he said.
City Councilor Becca Gerber added she hopes Parkites “re-engage with this experience and jump on board because, one way or another, it’s coming.”
Doilney and Gerber, who are both retiring from the City Council in early January, attended a gathering in Salt Lake City on Wednesday marking the announcement by the IOC.
Park City’s elected officials will eventually have an important role in the planning of the community’s involvement in a Games. Park City Mountain and Deer Valley Resort are both identified as competition venues, while Park City is also expected to be crucial to the transportation, security and celebration planning.
It is not clear when the City Council will next address the Games efforts in a formal setting. The elected officials over the past several years have held discussions about a future Winter Olympics and gathered Parkites for a series of community conversations.