Salt Lake One of Three Cities USOC Will Choose For Future Olympics

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Lots of people remember the 2002 Winter Olympics as one of Utah’s best moments ever.

There are also a lot of people who believe that magic can happen again.

The Salt Lake Executive Committee for the Games met with the Utah Exploratory Olympic Committee as a group for the first time in downtown Salt Lake Tuesday.

Its main goal is to bring the Olympics back to Utah as soon as 2030.

“We want to be part of any discussion about Winter Olympics,” said Fraser Bullock, who was a big part of bringing the Games to Salt Lake City in 2002.

Now, Bullock, is part of the committee trying to convince the United States Olympic Committee to choose Salt Lake City over Denver and the Reno/Tahoe area for a future Winter Olympics.

“The USOC has to conduct a very fair process and listen to every city that’s interested. And what we do is we just put our best foot forward, which is pretty striking with everything we have,” said Bullock. “The venues, the experienced team, the wonderful people here – so we think we’re in very good shape.”

The USOC wants to make a decision by the end of 2018, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that selection will be chosen by the International Olympic Committee for the 2030 Games.

Calgary, Switzerland, and Italy are also all interested in 2030.

The IOC’s decision for 2030 won’t be made for another five years.

The USOC’s decision for an American bid just means a future Winter Olympics, whether it be 2030, 2034, 2038, or beyond.

It has become extremely expensive just to bid for an Olympics.

Chicago recently spent close to $100 million for a failed bid.

Those financial conditions are what led to the IOC only having two cities to choose from for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

They eventually chose Beijing over Almaty, Kazakhstan, because other cities such as Oslo, Munich, and Ostersund, Sweden dropped out due to financial concerns.

The International Olympic Committee wants to change how cities bid as part of its “Vision 2020” plan and are looking for cities that can spend less.

“We have some additional information we are being asked for regarding our venues and regarding our public support,” said Salt Lake City mayor Jackie Biskupski. “We’ll pull all this together for the USOC, and they’ll be coming out for a visit later this month.”

Saving money is what Salt Lake City can offer, especially since all the venues from 2002 are still being maintained and used.

Many people on the Executive Committee believe the conditions of Salt Lake’s venues are what make Utah the logical choice for the USOC over Denver and Reno/Tahoe.

“I would rather be in Salt Lake’s shoes than anybody else’s shoes in the world,” said Bullock.