Brad Olch is the only person in Park City who can know what Mayor Nann Worel is experiencing this week.

Olch, a former three-term mayor, was in office in 1995 when the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2002 Winter Olympics to the state and traveled with the Utah delegation to Budapest, Hungary, for the vote. Worel is in Paris with the state delegation this week for the expected awarding of the 2034 Winter Olympics to Utah in the early morning hours, Utah time, on Wednesday.

“What a great opportunity for Nann, the mayor of Park City, to witness something like that,” Olch said Monday.

The circumstances are different, though. The IOC months ago named Salt Lake City the preferred option for the Games of 2034, and the awarding of the Games on Wednesday to the capital city is widely expected. In the previous era, there may have been frontrunners for the awarding of a Games, but the host would be a mystery until the vote was cast. Salt Lake City was competing against other places on the day of the vote, including Sion, Switzerland, before emerging as the winner.

“Anything was possible, but we felt really confident,” Olch said, describing the meetings in Budapest as “crazy exciting” since the outcome was not known.

The IOC bid process has changed dramatically since the Winter Olympics of 2002 were awarded. The Lausanne, Switzerland-based organization under the current process enters into wide-ranging talks with a potential host as the sides address numerous issues related to staging a Games. In the case of Salt Lake City, the IOC last November invited Salt Lake City into a phase known as a targeted dialogue. It has been likely since then that Salt Lake City would be selected as the host of the event in 2034.

Olch described the awarding of the Winter Olympics to the state as a “done deal” as the IOC gathered in Paris for meetings on the eve of the Summer Olympics in the French capital.

He is the Park City official most associated with the earlier Olympic era. He served three terms as the mayor starting in early 1990 and was heavily involved in the bid before becoming a pivotal figure during the years of City Hall planning for the Games. He did not seek reelection in the 2001 municipal campaign and left office in early 2002, just weeks before the Games. He had wide influence on the City Hall blueprints for the Winter Olympics. By the time he left office in January 2002, nearly all of the plan for the Games had been drafted and much of it had begun to be implemented.

Another key difference between the earlier Games era and today is the timing of the award. The IOC award of the Winter Olympics of 2034 is slated for nine and a half years prior to the event. The Games of 2002 were awarded less than seven years before they opened.

Olch said the additional time may become a challenge for the community. He predicted there will be “ebbs and flows” during the near decade of planning for the Games.

“That’s a long time to stay enthused,” he said.

He added, though, the extended period will allow Park City to “put its best foot forward.”

Olch suggested Park City officials travel to upcoming Olympics as part of the planning. Officials in the years before 2002 traveled extensively to a series of Olympics and other cities that previously hosted the Games.

Worel is in Paris for the IOC meetings and the opening days of the Games. Olch said City Hall should send representatives on a fact-finding mission to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy, to “really get a sense of what a Winter Olympics is about” as well as the 2030 Winter Olympics, which are slated to be awarded to the south of France. Olch said a municipal trip to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles would also be beneficial to the planning.

“We had to figure out what place was Park City going to be in all of this and how can I bring the community along even further,” Olch said.

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Park City Mayor Nann Worel is not slated to have a speaking role during a key presentation by the state’s Winter Olympic bidders to the International Olympic Committee during meetings in Paris later in July, but her schedule during the upcoming trip will include other opportunities to act in her official capacity.

The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games on Tuesday provided certain details of the mayor’s tentative agenda for the trip. Worel is traveling as part of the state’s delegation and a schedule as of Tuesday morning indicates she will attend the IOC Session as well as an ambassadorial reception. There is also the possibility of a meeting between Worel and the leader of Park City’s sister city Courchevel, France.

The IOC is expected to award the Winter Olympics of 2034 to Salt Lake City during the meetings on the eve of the opening of the Summer Olympics in Paris. The selection is expected on July 24. The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, the group seeking the event, is preparing a final presentation to the full IOC that will be delivered on July 24.

The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games said Worel is on the list of attendees for a July 23 reception hosted by the U.S. ambassador to France.

Worel may also meet with the Courchevel leader at a youth-sports event. Courchevel is part of the French bid for the Winter Olympics of 2030, which are also expected to be awarded during the IOC session.

The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games stressed the importance of representation in Paris by elected officials on the local and state level, indicating that the officials will witness the staging of a Games in person in addition to their presence at the IOC meetings.

Worel is Park City’s point person in the Olympic efforts as mayor. She assumed the duties in early 2022 as she ascended to the mayor’s office after her Election Day win in 2021. Worel was a member of the Park City Council prior to becoming mayor and was involved in the early work toward the Olympic bid.

She is scheduled to travel from July 20 until July 29. She has never been to a Summer Olympics or a Winter Olympics and plans to use the trip as a fact-finding mission. It is likely the first in a series of City Hall missions to upcoming Games as officials prepare for 2034.

The concept for the Games of 2034 calls for the Park City area to have an large role, as was the case during the Winter Olympics of 2002. Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park are identified as competition venues and the community would be critical to the transportation, security and celebration plans.

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The International Olympic Committee in July is widely expected to award the 2034 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City during meetings in Paris on the eve of the opening of the Summer Olympics in the French capital.

Park City Mayor Nann Worel and Malena Stevens, the chair of the Summit County Council, plan to be there when the announcement is made. They both are planning to remain in France for the first days of the Games as well.

Their trips will ensure City Hall and the County Courthouse are represented on what will be a momentous day for the community with Park City and surrounding Summit County crucial to the overall concept of a second Games in the state, similar to the role they played during the Winter Olympics in 2002.

The two, though, see the trip as having broader goals than the ceremonial roles they may play as the Games are awarded, which is expected on July 24. Worel and Stevens each said they intend to use the trip as an early fact-finding mission with the governments in Park City and Summit County likely to expand their Winter Olympic efforts after the selection of Salt Lake City. Worel and Stevens each have key roles in the relationship between their respective governments and the committee mounting the bid.

Worel is scheduled to leave July 20 and return July 29. She has never attended a Summer Olympics or a Winter Olympics.

“I’m truly honored to be part of the delegation from Utah,” she said, adding that she sees it as “super-important that we are represented in Paris.”

The itinerary while in France had not been set by early in the week. Worel, though, said she wants to “experience what visitors do,” meaning she wants to learn about the how the typical spectator navigates the Games. The mayor said some of the trip costs will be self-funded, while others will be at taxpayers’ expense.

Stevens is traveling from July 20 until July 30. She has also never been to an Olympics. The County Courthouse is funding the trip with taxpayer money.

“What can we learn? What are the things that are working well. … What are the things that are not working,” she said.

Stevens said the Games transit system is of interest to her and she wants to learn about the work with outlying competition venues, such as how the transportation system was designed. She said she wants to visit “more remote” venues. Stevens said she understands the itinerary may include studying the logistical aspects of basketball competitions outside of Paris.

 “How they’re interacting with the main venue?” she said. “How are venues going to coordinate?”

Stevens also sees the trip as an opportunity to ensure Summit County leaders continue to “remain actively engaged in Olympic preparations” and “preserve their seat at the table” regarding Games planning.

There are likely some commonalities between the outlying venues that will be operating during the Summer Olympics in the Paris region and the role Park City would play in a second Games. Transportation is required outside the host city, and the outlying places must define their role amid the wider Olympics, as examples.

Park City officials traveled extensively in the years before the Winter Olympics in 2002, when the community was also a key to the overall Games. Park City officials are not believed to have traveled to an Olympics at the expense of taxpayers since the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

The trip to Paris may be the first in a series of Olympic-related missions for City Hall and the County Courthouse in coming years should the event in 2034 be awarded to the state. There will be two additional Summer Olympics — 2028 in Los Angeles and 2032 in Brisbane, Australia — prior to 2034 and two Winter Olympics before then — 2026 in Milan, Italy, and the Games of 2030, likely in the Provence, the Alps and the Côte d’Azur regions of France. The 2030 event is expected to be awarded to the French bid during the upcoming IOC meetings.

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The group seeking to host a second Winter Olympics in the state is continuing to prepare for a Games in 2034.

And there has not been any discussion at the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games about the prospects of France saying “Non” to the Winter Olympics of four years earlier and what the implications could be on the state’s bid if that was to occur.

The leadership of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games on Wednesday briefly addressed a scenario, seemingly unlikely, of the French bid for the Games of 2030 essentially collapsing in coming weeks with national elections scheduled in late June and early July. The bid covers the Provence, the Alps and the Côte d’Azur regions.

The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday said the French bid for the Games of 2030 still must deliver a guarantee from the national government. An important IOC figure in the selection of Olympic cities, Future Host Commission chair Karl Stoss, told reporters he anticipates the guarantee will be delivered by the date of the upcoming selection of the cities for the 2030 and 2034 Winter Olympics, expected just before the opening of the Summer Olympics in Paris in July.

It is a bit of late intrigue, though, in a selection process that seemed to be advancing as planned until the French political situation arose. The IOC in November tapped Salt Lake City as the likely host in 2034 and the French bid as likely for 2030. In the months since then, the efforts in the two places have been progressing in anticipation of the selections this summer.

In comments to the media on Wednesday, Fraser Bullock, the president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, said the organization has not held talks about shifting plans from the Games of 2034 to those of 2030 if the French bid falters.

“100% all in on 2034. It’s the perfect fit for us,” he said. “That’s it. That’s our focus.”

Bullock said he is “cheering them on” as he spoke about the French bid.

The comments about the politics in France were some of the highlights as the IOC and the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games spoke separately on Wednesday. The executive board of the IOC on Wednesday formally recommended the French bid for 2030 and the 2034 Salt Lake City bid. The full IOC will consider the recommendations during a session in Paris in July.

Salt Lake City has long been seen as a top choice for a future Winter Olympics with the venues from the Games of 2002 remaining in operation and broad public support. The question of which event would work best, though, stretched for years as officials at the IOC, national Olympic figures and backers in the state considered options. The event in 2034, rather than the one in 2030, was ultimately pursued as the parties sought to avoid an overlap in fundraising between a Games in Salt Lake City and the 2028 Summer Olympics, which are slated for Los Angeles.

The Park City area would play a key role in a second Games in the state, as was the case in 2002. Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park are identified as competition venues on the concept map while the community would also be key to the transportation, security and celebration plans. An IOC delegation spent time in the Park City area in April during an important visit to the state that included tours of proposed venues and meetings with bid officials and government leaders.

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The Park City area played an outsized role in the 2002 Winter Olympics with three major competition venues and a Games-long celebration along Main Street.

The community may play an even larger role in a future Winter Olympics.

An International Olympic Committee member with an important role in the selection of host cities for future Winter Olympics and Summer Olympics briefly spoke last weekend about possibilities for Park City if the state is awarded a second Games. Karl Stoss, the chair of the Future Host Commission of the IOC, was part of a delegation from the Lausanne, Switzerland-based organization that visited Utah to learn about the bid for a Games.

“I think the role will be much stronger for Park City . . . Because to bring more sportsmen and women to Park City to use all of these venues in a good way, and I think this is the way we have to do it. Not just for the elite. We have to do it for the community. And you have excellent, excellent preparations for that,” Stoss said in an interview at the close of the four-day visit last week.

He did not provide details, but the comment seems to support the idea that the Park City area could be especially integral to the overall blueprints of a Games. That was the case during the 2002 Winter Olympics and there have been indications there are even more local possibilities in a second Games.

Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park have been identified as competition venues after each of them hosted athletes in 2002. The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games has detailed a proposed venue map outlining the disciplines that would be held at each of the locations. An ultimate competition grid would be key to the wider planning of a Games since the times and locations of the sporting events would influence the rest of the preparations.

Stoss said the IOC delegation was unable to spend extensive time in the Park City area as a result of scheduling constraints. He noted the continued use of the venues that hosted competitions in 2002.

“We saw just a little bit because the time was too short. But we saw it at the venues — the small children starting this jumping. That’s incredible to see. How important is it to bring the families together at such a beautiful venue?” he said.

Stoss also addressed the years of work required before the opening of a Winter Olympics, saying international competitions could be held in the Park City area in the years prior to a Games.

“Great venues. And we have to try to bring more world competitions back to Park City. That means in skiing, or in bob, in luge, in skeleton. So we have all the opportunities at one place,” he said.

Stoss said talks would be needed with the various winter-sports federations since they set their own competition calendars. He said, “changes are not so quick, so we have to think in the long range.”

“If we now decided to bring back the Olympic Games to Park City, for example, there will be more competitions in preparation (of) the athletes for the great moment in the Olympic Games,” he said.

The full IOC is expected to award the 2034 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City during meetings this summer on the eve of the Summer Olympics in Paris.

The Future Host Commission during the visit broadly praised the concept for a Games crafted by the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games. The IOC delegation’s trip included stops at Park City Mountain, Deer Valley and the Utah Olympic Park.

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An International Olympic Committee delegation arrived in the Park City area on Thursday under brilliant blue skies and with ample snow remaining on the slopes for spring skiing.

The weather created a spectacular backdrop for what was billed as a highly important visit by the Future Host Commission of the IOC as the Lausanne, Switzerland-based organization prepares to select the city where the 2034 Winter Olympic will be held. The Future Host Commission, which has an influential role in the selection of cities for the Winter Olympics and the Summer Olympics, spent much of Thursday in the Park City area and in Wasatch County as part of a four-day fact-finding mission to the state. The work started on Wednesday and is scheduled to end on Saturday.

Stops at Park City Mountain and the Utah Olympic Park on Thursday were similar in nature. The Future Host Commission met a roster of government leaders, tourism officials and representatives of the locations proposed to be competition venues under the concept crafted by the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games. There were brief statements about the community’s work to reduce the impact of the tourism industry and a concise history of Park City Mountain’s ski-racing past.

The day, at least outwardly, appeared to be designed as much for exchanging friendly platitudes as offering an opportunity for local leaders to engage the IOC delegation in discussion about the overarching plan to hold a second Games in the state.

The IOC members moved across the Wasatch Back from midmorning through the middle of the afternoon. They did not spend extensive time at any of the three proposed Park City-area competition venues — Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park. The stop at Park City Mountain was held at the McGrath Mountain Center, with windows overlooking terrain proposed as a Winter Olympics competition venue.

Questions from the IOC members in view of the media and answers from the various parties in attendance were brief. The IOC contingent, as an example, inquired about the Park City-area lodging industry, drawing an answer from Jennifer Wesselhof, executive director of the Park City Chamber/Bureau, explaining that there are numerous units in the nightly rental pool in addition to traditional hotels.

Deirdra Walsh, the vice president and chief operating officer of Park City Mountain, said it would be thrilling to welcome the return of the Winter Olympics. She spoke about the 7,000-plus acres of terrain at Park City Mountain and mentioned the resort’s role as a venue during the 2002 Winter Olympics and as the location of the America’s Opening ski races years ago. She recalled the U.S. medal sweep in the men’s snowboarding halfpipe competition at Park City Mountain in 2002.

Wesselhoff provided a briefing about the area’s efforts toward “sustainable tourism.” She said the sustainable tourism work involves a 10-year plan that runs through the 2034 Winter Olympics, describing a desire for a balanced tourism-based economy. Wesselhoff also said Park City draws an international clientele that in the pre-pandemic era accounted for 12% of visitors.

“Park City welcomes the world,” she said.

The delegation stopped at Deer Valley for lunch and a brief meeting. Mayor Nann Worel and Todd Bennett, the Deer Valley president and chief operating officer, were in attendance. The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games said the meeting was held at Snow Park Lodge and the IOC delegation viewed the terrain proposed as a competition venue. The IOC members also visited Soldier Hollow in Wasatch County, another proposed competition venue.

The IOC members traveled to Utah at a critical time as the group bidding for a second Winter Olympics in the state continues its work. The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, which accompanied the delegation, in February submitted upward of 5,000 pages of documentation to the IOC detailing the plans to host a Games. The preferred host submission includes highlights such as the concepts for the competition venues and the plans for staffing an eventual Olympic organizing committee.

The visit occurred in the months before the full IOC is expected to name Salt Lake City the host of the Games of 2034 during meetings in Paris just before the opening of the Summer Olympics in the French capital. The IOC in November identified Salt Lake City as the preferred host for the event in 2034.

The Park City area is crucial to the blueprints for a second Winter Olympics, as was the case during the Games of 2002. Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park would be key competition venues while the area would also be heavily involved in the security, transportation and celebration planning.

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A delegation from the International Olympic Committee is scheduled to visit the Park City area next week as part of an important trip to Utah in the months before the full IOC is expected to award the 2034 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City.

The Future Host Commission of the IOC holds an influential role in the selection of cities for upcoming Games and the trip is slated during a busy time for the Lausanne, Switzerland-based organization and the committee in Utah that is seeking the Games. The IOC is preparing for the likely awarding of the 2034 event to Salt Lake City during meetings this summer just before the opening of the Summer Olympics in Paris.

The delegation’s itinerary includes time in the Park City area on Thursday.

The IOC representatives are scheduled to tour the Utah Olympic Park — including the sliding track and a stop at the top of the ski jumps. Summit County officials and the president of the Utah Senate, Stuart Adams, will meet with the delegation at the park.

A stop at the National Ability Center’s McGrath Mountain Center at Park City Mountain will provide the delegation a view of the terrain proposed for some of the Olympic competitions. The IOC representatives are expected to briefly visit Main Street on a vehicle tour before heading to Deer Valley Resort. Mayor Nann Worel is one of the officials who is slated to attend a lunch with the delegation at Deer Valley. A visit to the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Wasatch County is also on the itinerary.

“The Park City and Summit County region is a vital host venue community as it will hold events in multiple different sports across three different sites. The Utah Olympic Park is a great example for the IOC of the sustainable use of an Olympic venue over time to energize sport. We are also appreciative of the opportunity to partner with two world-class ski resorts — Park City Mountain and Deer Valley Resort. The region is also reflective of the benefit sport can bring to communities, with thriving youth winter sport programs,” Fraser Bullock, the president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, said in a prepared statement.

Karl Stoss, the IOC member who chairs the Future Host Commission, is leading the delegation and Christophe Dubi, who is the Olympic Games executive director for the IOC, is also scheduled to travel to Utah. United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee leadership is expected to travel to Utah as well.

There are a number of stops also planned throughout the Olympic region, including Rice-Eccles Stadium, the TRAX light rail system in Salt Lake City, Snowbasin and the Utah Olympic Oval.

The visit will follow five months after the IOC named Salt Lake City the preferred host of the Games of 2034 and in the period after the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games submitted thousands of pages of documentation to the IOC covering the details of the plans to host an Olympics.

The Park City area is crucial to the overall concept for a second Games in the state. Park City Mountain, Deer Valley and the Utah Olympic Park are identified competition venues while the community would play a key role in security, transportation and celebration planning.

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The Park City area is expected to be a key element of an April visit to the state by a delegation from the International Olympic Committee as the Lausanne, Switzerland-based organization prepares for the likely selection of Salt Lake City as the host of the Winter Olympics in 2034.

The Future Host Commission of the IOC, which holds an influential role in the selection process of Olympic cities, is scheduled to travel to Utah from April 10 until April 13 for a wide-ranging look at the concept for a second Games in Salt Lake City and the surrounding region.

The IOC provided broad information about the upcoming visit during a Monday roundtable with the media. It is unclear what further details may be released as the visit nears, but the IOC said there would be some sort of opportunity for public input while the delegation is in Utah.

Information released by the IOC on Monday indicated the visit would stop at a series of mountain venues in addition to those in the Salt Lake Valley.

The mountain venues include locations for the potential ski racing, freestyle skiing and snowboarding events. The information, though, did not specify the precise locations of the venues. The concept map has long located many of those events at either Park City Mountain or Deer Valley Resort. Snowbasin, outside of Ogden, has been envisioned as another of the mountain venues and as the location for ski racing.

The information, meanwhile, indicates stops will be made to learn about the events that are expected to be held at the Utah Olympic Park in the Snyderville Basin and Soldier Hollow in Wasatch County. The visit will also make stops at the venues planned in the Salt Lake Valley.

It was not clear early in the week whether the delegation from the IOC intends to meet or hold discussions with Park City or Summit County officials in April. Both of the local governments are involved in the talks with the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, which is the organization that is seeking the event, and both jurisdictions would have important roles in the planning for and staging of a Games. They would be expected to be involved in the designs for traffic, transportation, security and celebrations, as examples.

The visit is scheduled during a crucial stretch for the efforts to stage the Games of 2034 in the state. The delegation will arrive in the weeks after the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games submitted upward of 5,000 pages of documentation to the IOC covering the details of the plan to host a Games. The visit is also slated just months before the IOC is expected to select the host cities for the Winter Olympics of 2030 and 2034 during meetings in Paris shortly before the opening of the Summer Olympics in the French capital in July. The IOC in November tapped Salt Lake City as the likely host in 2034. 

Materials presented by the IOC on Monday indicate some of the topics that will be studied during the April visit include the plan for the venues, the support for a Games in the area, the impact a Games would have as well as issues related to a Games legacy and sustainability. The IOC wants to learn of the support from a range of interested parties, including on the local, state and federal government levels, the private sector, the public and sports movements.

“We can’t wait to be back in Salt Lake,” Christophe Dubi, the IOC’s Olympic Games executive director, said during the roundtable on Monday, describing the Winter Olympic of 2002 in Utah as having been a great experience and noting the venues that already exist in the state that would be used in a second Games.

He also described that the state has “done it before” and would not be “first-timers.” Dubi touched on concerns about the potential impacts of climate change on the Winter Olympics, saying the Games region in Utah is projected to be “climate reliable” for years.

Jacqueline Barrett, the IOC’s director of Future Olympic Games Hosts, said opportunities for public input during the April visit have not been finalized. The delegation wants to be “as open as we possibly can be,” she said.

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The group seeking to host the 2034 Winter Olympics in Utah on Thursday submitted 5,000 pages of documentation to the International Olympic Committee covering the details of the plans to host the Games, a landmark step in the months before the event is likely to be awarded to Salt Lake City and the surrounding region.

The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games spent two years developing the preferred host submission for the IOC. It is a wide-ranging document that outlines the blueprints for staging a Games. Some of the highlights include the concepts for the competition venues, the designs of the venues and the staffing plan for an eventual Olympic organizing committee.

The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games said on Thursday components of the submission will be made public in segments over time, apparently starting at some point in March.

The details of the preferred host submission will likely be some of the most important information released by the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games to date. The Park City area is crucial to the overall efforts to host a Games, and there are expected to be numerous references to the community in the submission. Park City Mountain, Deer Valley Resort and the Utah Olympic Park are identified as major competition venues in a second Games while the Park City area will have a key part in the transportation, security and celebration planning.

It is not clear how closely the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games is following the blueprints for the 2002 Winter Olympics, when the Park City area also was key in the overall plans. It seems probable, though, there will be parallels at some level after the logistical success during the Games 22 years ago. The three Park City-area competition venues identified for a Games in 2034 also were used in the earlier Winter Olympics.

Fraser Bullock, the president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, said the submittal on Thursday was “such a monumental day.” Bullock also provided information about the upcoming bid process. The Future Host Commission of the IOC, which has influence on the selections of Games cities, is scheduled to visit the state from April 9 until April 13. More information about the itinerary is expected to be released as the dates approach, but Bullock said the IOC delegation will visit the proposed competition venues during the trip.

“We think we will blow them away,” Bullock said.

He said the full IOC may award the Winter Olympics of 2034 on July 24 in Paris, just before the opening of the Summer Olympics in the French capital. The July 24 date is notable since it marks Pioneer Day in Utah, a state holiday celebrating the arrival of the Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.

The preferred host submission transmitted to the IOC on Thursday involved Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games’ answers to 43 questions on topics such as goals for sustainability, the economics of the event, and the legacy of a second Games in the state. The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games said the submission also included 32 annexes to the primary document that described plans for the Olympic sites and financials.

“We are confident our Preferred Host Submission will showcase Salt Lake City-Utah as a unique and impactful host for the Olympic and Paralympic Movements, as well as for our Utah communities and our nation,” Bullock said in a prepared statement.

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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.

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