Salt Lake City voted as host of 2034 Olympic Winter Games – with a doping investigation caveat

The Winter Games are coming to the U.S. Leaders of the 142nd International Olympic Committee Session announced on Wednesday that Salt Lake City, Utah, will be the host of the Olympic Winter Games 2034, promising "an exceptional experience for athletes and visitors, in state-of-the-art venues."

Officials decided on the host in an 83-6 vote, a photo of the tally released by the IOC shows. The committee also voted that the French Alps will host the Winter Games in 2030. 

The last time the Winter Games were held in the U.S. was in 2002, bringing nothing but excitement to U.S. athletes. The country's ski and snowboard team said on X that "there's nothing quite like home snow." 

"Back on home soil," Team USA posted on X. "Team USA is honored to welcome the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to the U.S. in 2034."  

In a report released earlier this month about the validity of having the state host The Games, the IOC said that "Utah has a proven ability to deliver high-level sports competitions." 

"Since 2002, Utah Sports Commission has supported over 1,00 events, including 175 elite events such as world cups and championships. Hosting in 2034 would prolong the lifespan of the outstanding venues from 2002, maintained to high standards by their owners, their operators and the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation," the report says, adding that having the Winter Olympics there "would help to meet the needs of a city and region that have experienced huge societal changes." 

"Utah is the youngest state in the USA, with a median age of 31, and has one of the fastest-growing economies," the report continues. "Commitment to sport and to giving back is embedded in the Utahn DNA."

The decision was not unexpected. According to the Associated Press, Utah's capital was granted exclusive negotiating rights last year.

The formal announcement, however, came with an important clause in the city's contract – local officials have to work with federal officials "to alleviate your concerns" about doping investigations. The president of the IOC is upset with the FBI's investigation into the World Anti-Doping Agency's decision to accept China's reason behind nearly two dozen positive drug tests among its swimmers at the Tokyo Olympics, AP reports, and the clause allows the IOC to end its Salt Lake City deal if the World Anti-Doping Agency's authority is undermined. 

China's Anti-Doping Agency has said the tests were positive because of food contamination, according to The Salt Lake Tribune, and none of the swimmers have faced repercussions so far. Five of the swimmers involved won medals at the Tokyo Olympics. U.S. officials, however, have taken that information with a grain of salt and are investigating the matter based on Congress' 2019 Rodchenkov Act that allows such investigations of doping at international events if it could be detrimental to U.S. athletes. 

"We will work with our members of Congress," Utah's Republican Governor Spencer Cox said ahead of the 2034 vote, according to the AP, "we will use all the levers of power opn to us to resolve these concerns."

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from Washington state, and Ranking Member Frank Pallone Jr., a New Jersey Democrat, said in a joint statement that the IOC's attempt to put pressure on investigators to back off "speaks volumes," calling it "a one-sided contract condition to protect WADA rather than work together to ensure it is fulfilling its mission to protect clean sport." 

"The eyes of the world are about to turn toward the Paris Olympics where athletes should be able to compete on a level playing field, but unfortunately these reports cast further doubts on WADA," they said in a joint statement.  

In June, Rodgers said at a hearing on anti-doping measures ahead of the Paris Games that "WADA has consistently failed to be transparent or accept any responsibility for its actions" and that in doing so, the agency "is undermining the integrity of the Olympic games." 

"How many more Olympic athletes have to lose out on winning medals and proudly singing their country's national anthem before the World Anti-Doping Agency decides to enforce its rules uniformly?" Rodgers said. "Everyone watching the Olympics in Paris and in their homes next month should know that the system is not rigged against athletes who compete the right way."

According to the website for the 2034 Games, competition venues will be set up in two zones. 

The Salt Lake City Zone, located downtown, would host venues for ice hockey, figure skating and short track, curling and speed skating, and big air. It will also be home to the Olympic Village, medals plaza and the opening and closing ceremony stadium. 

The second zone, the Wasatch Back (Mountain) Zone located about an hour from the Olympic Village, will be home to the freestyle and snowboard events. 

"We're ready to once again welcome the world to Utah," Cox posted on X. "Let's Go!" 

In:
• Salt Lake City
• Olympics
• Utah
• Paralympics