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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah leaders took the next step in bringing another Olympics to Salt Lake City Wednesday, announcing a new committee responsible for preparing a future bid that looks increasingly like it will be for the 2034 Winter Games.
Gov. Gary Herbert and Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall jointly named the new Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games in the state Capitol’s formal Gold Room. Herbert said the committee is key “to show that we continue to be ready, willing and able to play host to a future Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.”
Mendenhall said she feels “very strongly about our bid potential.”
The committee will be headed up by Cindy Crane, retired president and CEO of Rocky Mountain Power, and Fraser Bullock, the chief operating officer of the last Olympics in Salt Lake City, the 2002 Winter Games, will be president and CEO.
Jeff Robbins, Utah Sports Commission president and CEO; and Colin Hilton, Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation president and CEO, are the vice chairmen. The governor and Salt Lake City mayor, along with House Speaker Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, and Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, all will serve in honorary roles.
Salt Lake City is one of three cities seeking a Winter Games, along with Sapporo, Japan, which has formally announced a bid for 2030; and Barcelona, Spain, which is teaming up with the Pyrenees mountain region, including the neighboring country of Andorra.
All three cities are former Olympic hosts — Salt Lake City, the 2002 Winter Games; Sapporo, the 1972 Winter Games; and Barcelona, the 1992 Summer Games. With Sapporo already bidding and Los Angeles hosting the 2028 Summer Games, the focus for Salt Lake City appears to be on the 2034 Games, not 2030.
“It is for a lot of reasons,” Wilson told reporters Wednesday during his regular media availability. “We’ll take it when we can get it.”
On Tuesday, Adams told KSL that “may be accurate” and reiterated the motto of the state’s latest Olympic bid, “ready, willing and able.” The Senate president said that “it’s been a long time since America has had the Winter Olympics. We think we’re due. So whether it’s 2030 or 2034, we hope it’s one of those dates.”
