Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah plans to go for the gold again. Monday, Gov. Herbert announced the state's official bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The bid will cost $1 million to start, paid for by private donors. But there are also other costs to prepare and update the various venues throughout the Wasatch Front.
One of the selling points of pursuing the Olympic bid was the infrastructure that's already in Utah.
Before the 2002 games, Utah invested more than a billion dollars to build the current venues. The payoff, the governor says, is worth $5 billion since then.
"Utah has become the winter sports capitol here in America," said Gov. Herbert.
Utah has become the winter sports capitol here in America.
–Gov. Gary Herbert
But in 14 years, many of those venues will need a facelift, and new venues may be required. For example, some athletes are concerned about bobsled tracks that are either too slow or too fast.
New standards could mean changes to the track at Utah Olympic Park.
"Our hope is that through different funding mechanisms -- public and private -- that we can keep these facilities at world-class levels," said Colin Hilton, a CFO of the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics.
At the same time, Utah has facilities like the speed skating oval that are still considered world class. Speed skating champion Catherine Raney-Norman is also on the Olympic exploratory committee.
"Right now they've done a fantastic job, ten years out we still have the fastest ice in the world," said Raney-Norman. "The athletes are still coming here to train because we have world-class facilities."
Upkeep on the current venues is paid for by a $76-million endowment. Over a million dollars a year is invested on the skating oval and Olympic sports park alone.
"In our budget, we have put line items to upgrade the venues, maintenance, things like that to cover those necessary upgrades," said Fraser Bullock, another CFO of the 2002 Winter Olympics.
If the United States Olympic Committee decides to pursue a bid for the 2026 games, Utah would have to invest even more to bid: possibly as much as $25 million -- money that will be privately raised.
