PARIS — The Winter Olympic Games will make a return visit to Salt Lake City in 2034, while the 2030 Games have tentatively been set for the French Alps, officials said Wednesday.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and other organizing officials were in Paris this week, meeting with International Olympic Committee members and shoring up support for their bid to bring the Winter Games back to its 2002 site.
Salt Lake City had appeared to be a 2034 shoo-in for weeks, but late concerns came from the IOC about U.S. authorities’ possibly not supporting the embattled World Anti-Doping Agency, or WADA.
U.S. lawmakers had launched an investigation into allegations of doping by Chinese swimmers ahead of the Tokyo Games, perhaps undermining WADA's authority.
"The last 10 days of my life were totally unexpected," Fraser Bullock, head of the Salt Lake City bid, told NBC affiliate KSL minutes after the vote for Salt Lake City. "We were just cruising towards the final award, and then this came up and we had to address it."
But Bullock said that with an 83-6 vote for Salt Lake City to host, he believes the IOC has total confidence in 2034 organizers.
"We believe that we can make a few adjustments that will help the U.S. and world anti-doping community come together and not have disagreements," he said. "We actually believe this will be constructive."
U.S. gold medal skier Lindsey Vonn said she hopes a little boy or girl heard Wednesday's news and aims to reach Salt Lake City just like she did in 2002, when she made the first of four Olympic appearances.
“I remember this exact moment when Salt Lake City got the Olympics in 2002, and that’s what I dreamed of,” Vonn, who is in charge of athlete experience for the Salt Lake City bid, told NBC's "TODAY" show.
“I dreamed of being in Salt Lake, and I achieved that dream. I know today there are so many children and kids watching TV right now, getting excited and dreaming of racing in 2034,” she said.
Each venue for 2034 already exists or will be built for temporary use, not saddling local taxpayers with ongoing costs or underused facilities, Bullock said.
"These venues carry on the prolific 2002 legacy that continues to benefit the state of Utah and its people today," he said.
Hundreds of Utahns watched the announcement on big screen TVs at Washington Square Park and broke into wild cheers when the vote and the announcement were made before dawn at 4:22 a.m. MT.
A cauldron was lit at Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah to mark the Games' return.
"It's a once-in-a-generation opportunity," Visit Salt Lake President and CEO Kaitlin Eskelson said. "It's just a very exciting time, and it's going to catapult us into that global stage."
It will be the fifth time the Winter Games have been held on American soil. The U.S. previously rolled out a winter red carpet in Lake Placid, New York, in 1932 and 1980 and Squaw Valley, California, in 1960, in addition to Salt Lake City, in 2002 and 2034.
The IOC made a conditional award to France, pending additional financial guarantees from organizers, officials said.
It would be the fourth time France has hosted the Winter Olympics, following Chamonix in 1924, Grenoble in 1968 and Albertville in 1992.
Not including the Summer Olympics, which get underway in Paris this week, the sites and dates for the next five sets of games are now largely set.
- The 2026 Winter Games are scheduled for Italy, near Milan, Feb. 6 to 22.
- Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Games July 14 to 30. Los Angeles hosted the 1932 and 1984 Olympics, joining Paris and London as the only cities to host three.
- The 2030 games appear to be headed to the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur regions Feb. 8 to 24 that year.
- The Games go back Down Under in the summer of 2032 as Brisbane welcomes the Olympics from July 23 to Aug. 8.
- Salt Lake City is set to get its second shot at winter glory in 2034 Feb. 10 to 26.
The Salt Lake City and French Alps selections had been in the works for months, with only moderate concerns rooted in France's snap elections.
But worries about the 2030 bid appeared to be eased when centrist French President Emmanuel Macron and leftist parties staved off a far-right challenge.