The 2034 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXVII Olympic Winter Games and branded as Salt Lake City–Utah 2034,[a] is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area of Utah in the United States, from February 10–26, 2034.[1] The Salt Lake City–Utah bid was elected at the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) 142nd Session in Paris on July 24, 2024, two days before the start of the 2024 Summer Olympics.[2]
 Provisional logo | |
| Location | Salt Lake City, United States |
|---|---|
| Opening | February 10, 2034 (in 115 months) |
| Closing | February 26, 2034 |
| Opened by | President of the United States (expected) |
| Stadium | Rice–Eccles Stadium |
Winter Summer
2034 Winter Paralympics | |
They will mark the fifth Winter Olympics and the tenth Olympics overall to be hosted by the United States. Salt Lake City previously hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics and will become the fourth city to host multiple Winter Olympics after Lake Placid (1932 and 1980), Innsbruck (1964 and 1976), and Cortina d'Ampezzo (1956 and 2026).
Bidding process
editThe new IOC bidding process was approved at the 134th IOC Session on June 24, 2019 in Lausanne, Switzerland. The key proposals, driven by the relevant recommendations from Olympic Agenda 2020, are:[3][4]
- Establish a permanent, ongoing dialogue to explore and create interest among cities/regions/countries and National Olympic Committees for any Olympic event
- Create two Future Host Commissions (Summer and Winter Games) to oversee interest in future Olympic events and report to the IOC executive board
- Give the IOC Session more influence by having non-executive board members form part of the Future Host Commissions.
The IOC also modified the Olympic Charter to increase its flexibility by removing the date of election from 7 years before the games, and changing the host from a single city/region/country to multiple cities, regions, or countries.
According to the Future Host Commission's rules of conduct, the new IOC bidding system is divided into 2 dialogue stages:[5]
- Continuous dialogue involving non-committal discussions between the IOC and interested parties (City/Region/Country/NOC interested in hosting) with regard to hosting future Olympic events.
- Targeted dialogue with one or more interested parties (called preferred host(s)), as instructed by the IOC Executive Board. This follows a recommendation by the Future Host Commission as a result of continuous dialogue. Following a recommendation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s Future Host Commission for the Olympic Winter Games, the IOC Executive Board (EB) on 29 November 2023 invited the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) into "Targeted Dialogue" towards hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2034 in Salt Lake City.[6]
Host selection
editSalt Lake City was confirmed as host of the 2034 Winter Olympics at the 142nd IOC Session on July 24, 2024 in Paris, France. As per the new format of choosing future Olympic Games host cities from the IOC's Agenda 2020, the vote was in a form of a referendum to the 95 IOC delegates.[7] Like the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympics, the 2030 and 2034 Winter Olympics were awarded simultaneously; the first to France and the second to the United States.
| City | NOC name | Yes | No | Abs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salt Lake City |  United States
|
83 | 6 | 6 |
Chinese doping scandal
editThe IOC insisted that Salt Lake City agree that it may "terminate Olympic host city contracts in cases where the supreme authority of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in the fight against doping is not fully respected or if the application of the world antidoping code is hindered or undermined." This was intended to undermine the United States Department of Justice's criminal investigation into the allegations that the World Anti-Doping Agency failed to sanction and covered up drug use by Chinese swimmers.[8][9]
Development and preparations
editA decision on the 2034 Winter Olympics host city was delayed until July 24, 2024, to allow the IOC more time to carefully plan the future of the Winter Olympics.[10] However, at the 141st IOC Session in Mumbai, where these games were originally set to be awarded, the IOC approved to award both the 2030 and 2034 Winter Olympics at the 142nd IOC Session in Paris on the eve of the 2024 Summer Olympics.[11]
The Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League relocating to Salt Lake City in the Spring of 2024 will make these Olympics the second Olympics to take place in a city with an NHL team since NHL players were introduced in 1998, following 2010 in Vancouver.[12]
Venues
edit
All competition venues were built for the 2002 Winter Olympics.[13][14]
Salt Lake City Cluster
edit| Venue | Events | Capacity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rice–Eccles Stadium | Opening and Closing Ceremonies | 53,644 | Existing |
| Delta Center (as Salt Lake Ice Center) | Figure skating | 16,070 | |
| Short track speed skating | |||
| Maverik Center | Ice hockey | 10,100 | |
| Utah Olympic Oval | Speed skating | 7,500 | Existing, renovated |
| Olympic Medals Plaza | Snowboarding (big air) | 25,000 | Temporary |
| Freestyle skiing (big air) | |||
| Salt Palace | International Broadcast Center | N/A | Existing |
With the relocation of the Utah Hockey Club from Arizona and their home arena becoming the Delta Center, there is a possibility that the Delta Center will be the primary ice hockey venue, like Rogers Arena was during the Vancouver Olympics.
Ogden Cluster
edit| Venue | Events | Capacity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Ice Sheet at Ogden | Curling | 6,500 | Existing |
| Snowbasin Resort | Alpine skiing | 19,000 |
Mountain Cluster
edit| Venue | Events | Capacity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soldier Hollow | Biathlon | 15,000 | Existing, renovated |
| Cross-country skiing | |||
| Nordic combined | |||
| Utah Olympic Park Track | Bobsleigh | 12,000 | |
| Luge | |||
| Skeleton | |||
| Utah Olympic Park Jumps | Ski jumping | 15,000 | |
| Nordic combined | |||
| Utah Olympic Park | Snowboarding (cross/parallel) | 8,000 | Existing |
| Freestyle skiing (cross) | |||
| Deer Valley | Freestyle skiing (aerials/moguls) | 12,000 | |
| Park City | Snowboarding (halfpipe/slopestyle) | 15,000 | |
| Freestyle skiing (halfpipe/slopestyle) |
Other Venues
edit| Venue | Events | Capacity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peaks Ice Arena, Provo | Ice hockey | 10,000 | Existing, renovated |
Broadcasting
editDomestically, NBCUniversal's ongoing agreement with the IOC expires at the end of the 2032 Summer Olympics. Reuters reported in 2022 that the IOC will wait "for the best market conditions" for U.S. deals for the 2034 Games and beyond regardless if Salt Lake City won the bid.[15]
See also
edit
References
editNotes
- ^ Arapaho: Niico'ooowu' 2034; Gosiute Shoshoni: Tit'-so-pi 2034; Navajo: Sooléí 2034; Shoshoni: Soónkahni 2034
Citations
- ^ Gonzalez, Isabel (December 7, 2022). "IOC delays selection of 2030 Winter Olympics host after climate change and sustainability discussions". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
- ^ "IOC Session backs double award of 2030 and 2034 Winter Games". France 24. October 15, 2023. Archived from the original on November 9, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
- ^ "Future Olympic Games elections to be more flexible". International Olympic Committee. May 2, 2019. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
- ^ "Evolution of the revolution: IOC transforms future Olympic Games elections". International Olympic Committee. June 26, 2019. Archived from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
- ^ "Future Host Commissions: Terms of Reference" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. October 3, 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2020.
- ^ "The French Alps and Salt Lake City-Utah invited into respective Targeted Dialogues to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2030 and 2034". International Olympic Committee. November 29, 2023. Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
- ^ IOC MEDIA [@iocmedia] (July 24, 2024). "The results of the election are out! Results of the vote of the 142nd IOC Session on the host of the XXVIIth Olympic Winter Games: #SLCUT2034" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Longman, Jeré; Panja, Tariq; Schmidt, Michael S. (July 24, 2024). "Salt Lake Awarded 2034 Olympics Under I.O.C. Pressure Over Doping Inquiries". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 25, 2024. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ Mann, Brian (July 24, 2024). "Olympic officials try to crush U.S. probes of China doping, threaten Salt Lake Games". NPR. Archived from the original on July 25, 2024. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ Chan, Kenneth (December 7, 2022). "IOC pondering the idea of rotating host cities for Winter Olympics". Daily Hive Vancouver. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
- ^ "IOC Session backs double award of 2030 and 2034 Winter Games". France 24. October 15, 2023. Archived from the original on November 9, 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
- ^ Kaplan, Emily; Wyshynski, Greg (April 10, 2024). "Coyotes could relocate to Salt Lake City as part of NHL plan". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
- ^ "IOC Feasibility Assessment of Salt Lake City-Utah 2034" (PDF). June 12, 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 23, 2024. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ Schoenbaum, Hannah (July 24, 2024). "Winter Olympians will compete at these 13 venues when the Games return to Salt Lake City in 2034". AP News. Archived from the original on July 24, 2024. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
- ^ "IOC in no rush to seal new U.S. broadcast deal for Games after 2032". Reuters. February 15, 2022. Archived from the original on April 25, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
