By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM, Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Winter Olympics will return to Salt Lake City in 2034, the International Olympic Committee announced Wednesday, marking the success of Utah’s decades-long efforts to preserve Olympic venues and keep fans excited.
Local leaders had already been planning to host the Olympics again — and to be part of a possible future rotation of winter host cities — even before Salt Lake City hosted its first Games in 2002. In the years since, the continued use and maintenance of Olympic facilities has not only strengthened Salt Lake City’s reputation as a winter sports destination, but has also become a major selling point for its plan to bring back the Games.
“We’ve always had the idea that the Games could be held again,” said Tom Kelly, a spokesman for the Salt Lake City bid committee.
The Utah capital was the only city the International Olympic Committee considered hosting in 2034. Since Salt Lake City opened its nearby slopes to the world’s best winter athletes, the field of potential hosts has shrunk dramatically. Spectacle sports are a notorious money pit, and climate change has reduced the number of venues that can host the Games. Even though Salt Lake City was embroiled in a corruption scandal that nearly derailed the 2002 Winter Olympics, it has managed to get back into the good graces of an Olympic committee that is increasingly reliant on passionate communities with existing infrastructure as its options dwindle.
Salt Lake City bidders boast that they have created one of the most compact venues in Olympic history, with all the sites within an hour’s drive of the athletes’ village on the University of Utah campus. The plan they presented to the Olympic committee in Paris on Wednesday requires no new permanent construction, with all 13 venues already in place and each having played a role in the city’s first hosting of the Games.
Here are the locations planned for 2034:
Park Place (Block 85)
For the first time, Olympic officials are bringing Big Air to the heart of Salt Lake City. Organizers plan to erect a massive ski and snowboard ramp in a downtown parking lot, two blocks from Temple Square, a historic and religious center for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The city block will also serve as a concert venue and medal presentation plaza for winning athletes, as it did in 2002. While Park Place is a recurring venue, the ramp is a new addition. Snowboarding and Big Air skiing only became Olympic events in 2018 and 2022, respectively.
Deer Valley Resort
Deer Valley Alpine Ski Resort in Park City hosted freestyle moguls, aerials and alpine slalom competitions in 2002. It is expected to host freestyle moguls and aerials again. This upscale Wasatch Mountain resort is located 36 miles east of Salt Lake City and is consistently ranked among the top ski resorts in North America. It regularly hosts International Ski and Snowboard Federation competitions and is packed with tourists in the winter.
Delta Center
Home to the Utah Jazz NBA team and a new NHL expansion team, the Delta Center is a year-round sports arena in downtown Salt Lake City. It hosted the Olympic figure skating and short track speed skating competitions in 2002 and will host the same events in 2034.
Billionaire businessman Ryan Smith purchased the arena in 2020 and announced a multi-year plan to renovate the facility to better accommodate the hockey franchise. By the time the Olympics return to the city, the Delta Center will likely have a new ice rink, larger retractable seats, more nearby parking and a new overhead video board at the center. Smith also has ambitious plans to transform the surrounding area into a vibrant sports and entertainment district by 2034.
Park City Mountain
Park City Mountain will once again host halfpipe competitions after the resort made Olympic history in 2002 by building the first 22-foot (6.7-meter) halfpipe to be used in the Winter Games. The men’s and women’s snowboard halfpipe made their Olympic debut four years earlier on a smaller halfpipe, but the Park City facility later set the height standard that is still used in competition today.
The ski and snowboard resort located 30 miles east of Salt Lake City will host slopestyle, freestyle skiing, halfpipe and snowboarding events. In 2002, Park City Mountain was also the site of the men’s giant slalom and men’s and women’s parallel giant slalom events.
At the base of the slopes is Park City’s beloved Main Street, a shopping and dining destination that transforms each January into the home of the Sundance Film Festival.
Snowbasin Ski Resort
Huntsville’s Snowbasin Ski Resort, about 35 miles north of Salt Lake City, will host the alpine skiing competitions. The all-season recreational facility nestled behind Mount Ogden is home to legendary courses from the 2002 Winter Games that still stand today. It’s where the alpine ski races, the super giant slalom, or super-G, and the combined event of a downhill and two slaloms took place.
Since the last Games, Snowbasin has invested in improving its facilities, adding snowmaking facilities, upgrading chairlifts and building several restaurants, parking lots and locker rooms. The resort said it has protected the former site of its 25,000-seat stadium and will be able to accommodate that many spectators or more again.
Center for Nonconformists
The Maverik Center in West Valley City, 10 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, was the premier ice hockey venue in 2002 and will host the sport again in 2034. The 12,600-seat indoor arena is home to minor league hockey and basketball teams.
Peaks Ice Rink
Peaks Ice Arena will host the 2034 Olympic hockey events, in addition to the Maverik Center. The indoor ice rink in Provo is located 43 miles south of Salt Lake City. It was built to host the 2002 Winter Olympics for ice hockey and figure skating and is now home to the Utah Valley University men’s ice hockey team.
Rice-Eccles Stadium
Rice-Eccles Stadium, located on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City, will host the opening and closing ceremonies, as it did in 2002. The outdoor college football stadium is home to the Utah Utes of the Pac-12 Conference. University donors have invested millions to renovate the stadium and increase its capacity since the city last hosted the Olympics.
Soldier Hollow Nordic Center
In the scenic mountain town of Midway, 45 miles southeast of Salt Lake City, Soldier Hollow Nordic Center will host biathlon, cross-country skiing and Nordic combined events, as it did in 2002. The venue was built in Wasatch Mountain State Park for the 2002 Games. Since then, the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation has turned it into a cross-country skiing, tubing and snowshoeing venue in the winter, and a mountain biking and golfing venue in the summer. It regularly hosts the U.S. Cross-Country Ski Championships and is a popular training site for elite athletes.
University of Utah
The 2002 Olympic Village was located just up the hill from downtown Salt Lake City in the historic Fort Douglas neighborhood on the University of Utah campus. The university will once again host the Athletes’ Village and also provide housing for athletes’ families, an Olympic first.
Utah Olympic Oval
The Utah Olympic Oval, a 5-acre venue that houses the state’s only 400-meter speed skating oval and two ice tracks, will once again host long-track speed skating events. The facility, located 16 miles west of Salt Lake City in Kearns, was built in 2001. Nine world records were set at the Oval during the 2002 Games, the most world records ever set in a single Olympic event. To keep the venue operational, local leaders transformed it into a multi-purpose facility focused on increasing youth and young adult participation in ice sports.
Utah Olympic Park
Utah Olympic Park is a world-class winter sports center where athletes from around the world train year-round. The facility in Summit County, 28 miles east of Salt Lake City, was built for the 2002 Winter Olympics. In 2034, it will host bobsled, freestyle ski cross, luge, Nordic combined, skeleton, ski jumping, parallel snowboarding and snowboard cross. Even in the summer, ski jumpers can be seen leaping into the pools and hurtling down the bobsled track.
Originally published:
