As the world continues to warm due to global warming, Utah is expected to remain cold enough to continue hosting the Olympics for at least another 16 years after the 2034 Winter Games. Does that mean the International Olympic Committee will continue to bring the Winter Olympics back to the Beehive State?
It's not that fast.
Despite the Swiss-based organization's leaders postponing a decision to bring forward the bid to December 2022, the IOC has decided to hold the Winter Olympics in the future, taking into account other issues related to climate impacts. It has not yet proposed a plan to rotate between venues where variation is deemed reliable. Changes may be considered.
Instead, a year later, they listed potential sites through at least 2038, buying them time to consider a new system for hosting the Winter Olympics.
Late last year, the IOC Executive Board named Salt Lake City the preferred host site for 2034, and gave the same designation to the French Alps bid for 2030. Switzerland has been granted a new exclusive “privileged” status for the 2038 Winter Olympics, with Sweden – once seen as a front-runner – likely to continue host negotiations.
The final vote to confirm the hosting of the 2030 and 2034 Winter Olympics will take place at the IOC's Annual General Meeting of Full Members in Paris ahead of the 2024 start, which will take place on July 24, which is celebrated in Utah as Pioneer Day. scheduled for the day. summer game.
An IOC delegation that visited Utah earlier this month to tour the venue cited the University of Utah's single athlete village, less than an hour away from the fully prepared competition venue, as a “role model.” I have declared what I consider to be. More events are also planned for downtown Salt Lake City, including big air skiing and snowboarding on temporary giant jumps.
But when asked if that meant Salt Lake City would become the official Olympic host, the answer suggested it wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
“Exactly, but we have to think about the constraints of climate change. This will be a big challenge for us, but we also have to think about which partners can be trusted to host the Winter Olympics in the future. ” said Austrian IOC member Karl Stoss, chairman of the future host committee. .
Reiterating previously published data, Stoss said the IOC is “confident that we can do it here until 2050, given all the climate reports we have read.” However, we have to consider longer distances. What will happen in 2060 and he in 2070? This is the challenge and what we have to think about. But this is a very nice challenge for us and we accept it. ”
There appears to be no rush to complete studies of what Utah's climate will be like beyond 2050. Fraser Bullock, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Convention Committee, which supported the bid effort, said research was paused last fall after the bid effort. It was revealed that there was a growing “huge interest in the prospects of some future competitions”.
The other candidate in the race was Sapporo, Japan, when concerns about climate change were raised a year and a half ago. and Vancouver, Canada. However, both bids failed due to lack of public support. By last fall, three companies had submitted new bids: France, Switzerland and Sweden.
“At this point, I think the pipeline is healthy for the Winter Olympics. So it makes sense to postpone this analysis and work at this time,” Block said. He said the possibility of permanently rotating the Winter Olympic sites never came up during four days of talks with the IOC in Utah.
And it will be some time, maybe even a decade, before the IOC revisits the issue.
“My guess is that talks will resume sometime in the next 10 years because the IOC needs to continue to develop its strategy in a world with climate change,” Block said. At this point, 2050 is not that far away. ”
“It’s no longer a viable blueprint.”
However, speculation that the Olympics will be held multiple times in Utah continues unabated.
On Wednesday, The Athletic, a sports site owned by The New York Times, published an article titled “Salt Lake City set for 2034 and possibly beyond as options to host Winter Olympics dwindle.” In it, three-time Olympic medalist Lindsey Vonn mentioned her support for making Utah a permanent host.
“The sustainability model for this quadrennial spectacle is to move to a rotational approach,” said the now-retired champion alpine ski racer, a member of the Salt Lake City-Utah bid committee. He is reported to have said the following about the Salt Lake Games. City, where she skied in her first Olympics in 2002, should be at the top of the list.
“I don't think that's a viable blueprint anymore in this day and age,” Vonn told The Athletic about the continued search for a new Winter Olympics venue. “We need more sustainable options, and I think the Olympic option available to the world at the moment is Salt Lake.”
Utah Governor Spencer Cox would agree. In March, the governor told reporters that the IOC could, in the next few years, “designate a series of cities to host the Olympics and come back to those cities every 20 years or every 16 years.” He said he heard it. Salt Lake City will also be one of the host cities. ”
Despite struggling to attract bidders, the state “could host the Olympics next year if needed, and that changes the equation,” Cox said.
“If all countries had infrastructure like we have, they would see it as a wise investment,” the governor said. “The reason some countries have decided not to do it is because they have to build all these venues. It's very expensive and the venues go unused and end up being demolished. And it's clearly a waste.”
Will the Olympic selection process remain the same?
But Robert Livingstone, a producer at Toronto-based GamesBids.com, questioned whether the IOC intended to continue returning to Salt Lake City, saying that despite climate change, an official rotation system would be put in place. said he had no expectations. Changes are shrinking the pool of Winter Olympic venues.
“I think it's going to be something like, 'My options are limited, so which one do I choose next?'” Essentially, under the new forward-looking, less formal bidding process, He said the same system is in place. Evaluation of the site's host readiness by the host committee. “So I think the Salt Lake City name comes up a lot.”
He cited logistical issues with naming a permanent site, including changes in government leadership and the impact of unforeseen circumstances. Also, if what Livingstone said “was always this kind of theoretical thing” becomes reality, it could mean that countries such as Ukraine, which was aiming to host the 2030 Winter Olympics before it was invaded by Russia, would lose bids. Countries that are not ready will be shut out.
Block said Salt Lake City would be a strong candidate for the IOC beyond 2034, even if there is no official list of permanent hosts.
“Whether it's a prescribed rotation or a selection based on existing venue criteria, Salt Lake will consider potential combinations in the long term in any case, in terms of climate confidence.” the bid leader said. future.
“Climate change compatibility is just one component” of the IOC's regular return to previous venues, Block said. “We're also very focused on sustainability, which means using existing venues rather than building new ones. Based on that factor as well, when you combine that with climate change. The list of candidates dwindles.”
He said further public discussions would take place before Salt Lake City was added to the list of additional Winter Olympics, adding: “We are already planning that we may have that opportunity again sometime in the future. There is,” he added. Please host a tournament. ”
The latest version of the $2.45 billion privately funded budget for the 2034 Games, which will be published before the IOC vote, states: “The Olympic Legacy Foundation will manage these venues into the future.'' “The amount is sufficient to replenish the endowment fund.” “That would put us in a great position for a potential rotation game,” he said.
Matthew Burbank, a political science professor at the University of Utah and author of several books on the Olympics, is not surprised that the IOC is rushing to consider naming a permanent host. With current candidates running until 2038, he sees little chance of any action on the rotation system before then.
“All they did was talk very vaguely about this as a possibility without really making any promises. My opinion is that they should have made this decision earlier. Because to me it seems inevitable,” Burbank said. “I don't understand why they keep postponing and pretending like, 'Yeah, everyone wants the Olympics, and we can go anywhere in the world.'”
Especially given the IOC's new focus on sustainability and encouraging Games organizers to use temporary or existing facilities for competitions, even if they are located in another country. , even more so. France does not have an indoor ice oval, so the French Alps bid for 2030 proposes to do this with a long track speed skating event.
Sticking to the few organizers like Salt Lake that already own and maintain the necessary venues is “the only way we can actually do something that at least seems more sustainable,” Barr said. Bank said.
He said that during a recent review of the selection system, the IOC “chose not to abandon this idea of having a series of cities competing against each other in some way, shape, form to host the Olympics.” . That's the process they like. ”
Ultimately, Burbank said, it's because he enjoys the attention the IOC brings.
“They want to be invited to a place. They want to go there and wine and dine everyone. Without that, it's not as interesting,” he says. , adding, “Personally, I think it's more a matter of their own sense of the importance of the sport than it is of any impact on the sport.”
Why Utah's 2034 Winter Olympics bid is a model
Stoss said all IOC members who will serve on future hosting committees are “on the same page.” We are looking for the best organizers for the Olympics. ” The Salt Lake City and Utah bids are “truly a great example. You are one of a kind in the world.”
But in response to a question about whether Salt Lake City would continue to host these honors, Stoss said the renewed interest, calling Utah “a role model for all future hosts,” , and said it speaks to the state's ability to attract new bidders. — to the Winter Olympics.
“We have to think about how to take winter sports, not just here in the Americas, but across all continents,” he said, pointing to an example of “bringing sports to the world.” The city plans to hold Olympic activities. These are people other aspiring hosts should emulate.
Stoss said another way Utah is showing how things should be done is for breakdancing, also known as breaking, to be added to the Winter Olympics in the same way it was added to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The idea is to create a new sport. No details were mentioned, and the new sport for 2034 likely won't be added anytime soon.
Breaking is “completely new. But this is a sport for the younger generation, and this is an emotional thing,” he said. “Maybe we can think the same way. Instead of beating the snow, we can get more young people involved in winter sports, and get more countries and national Olympic committees involved in the Winter Olympics. It's about what you can do to help.”
