It's official: Salt Lake City will host the 2034 Winter Olympics
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Fans wave flags featuring the Olympics symbol. Photo: Erin Alberty/Axios
Salt Lake City will host the 2034 Winter Games, the International Olympic Committee formally announced Wednesday in Paris.
State of play: Thousands of fans waving flags with the Olympics symbol celebrated the news at a watch party in downtown Salt Lake that started around 3am MT.
- The long-awaited decision comes as the IOC board convenes ahead of this year's Summer Olympic games, which kick off July 24.
- Giant screens live streamed the meeting which coincided with Pioneer Day and saw dozens of people camping in the city overnight.
Zoom in: A delegation of Utah leaders, including Gov. Spencer Cox and Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, presented their final pitch before the vote.
- "The Games are a perfect fit for our future," Mendenhall said. "Hosting the games aligns seamlessly with the fabric of our communities."

Friction point: Before voting, the committee expressed reservations over a recent controversy dealing with the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) authority in the United States.
- U.S authorities have disputed WADA's findings that cleared Chinese swimmers of intentional doping at the 2021 Tokyo Games. The FBI is investigating under a federal law that authorizes U.S. prosecution in international doping cases.
- Some international sports officials say that law amounts to U.S. overreach that is out of compliance with multilateral anti-doping agreements, and argue that should disqualify the U.S. from hosting world sports events.
Fine print: The IOC amended Salt Lake's contract to require organizers to defer to WADA in doping investigations — and warned the contract could be terminated if the U.S. doesn't recognize WADA's authority.
- Fraser Bullock, head of the Salt Lake bid committee, agreed, and Gov. Spencer Cox promised to work with WADA — but it's not clear how much influence they might have with federal investigators should another conflict arise.
The intrigue: Unlike several other past Olympic hosts, Utah has kept its sports venues operational since the state hosted the 2002 Games.
- Worldwide competitions are regularly held on the ski jumps, bobsled track, ice rinks and cross-country ski courses.
Context: The Wasatch Mountains also supply the training grounds for multiple Winter Olympics athletes.
- During the 2022 Games in Beijing, more than 80 athletes who competed were either from Utah, attended school in or trained in the state, per a study.
Catch up quick: In November, Salt Lake City was named the sole finalist to host in 2034.
- Utah's capital city initially bid to host in 2030, but later targeted 2034 to avoid competing for sponsors with the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
What we're watching: The IOC is considering a permanent rotation of host cities as global warming shrinks the number of "climate-reliable" venues for winter sports.
- That means Salt Lake could host again within 20-30 years, along with other hopefully-still-snowy locations — potentially the French or Swiss Alps or Sweden, for example.
- Vancouver, Canada and Sapporo, Japan also could provide future venues, but both cities dropped out of the most recent bidding process due to low public support.
Follow the money: A July report estimated the 2034 games will generate more than $6.6 billion in the state.
- The 2002 games produced a $163 million surplus — even after the expense of building sports facilities.
- Those venues will be reused in 2034, significantly reducing the price tag of hosting.
Fun fact: A mogul run at the newly expanded Utah Olympic Park is named Axios! (We didn't have anything to do with it, but we'll accept the honor.)
Worth your time: For a glimpse of Utah's world-class snowsports terrain, enjoy this video of Erin yardsale-ing down the 2002 women's Olympic downhill run at Snowbasin.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with new information.

