(Reuters) – Salt Lake City officially submitted its bid to host the 2034 Winter Olympics on Thursday with officials hailing the moment as a “monumental day”.
Even with no other cities in the running for the 2034 Games, Salt Lake City organisers have been cautious in their approach to the bidding process but could not contain their excitement as they hit a button submitting the formal application to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Salt Lake City 2034 and France 2030 were picked as preferred hosts for the Winter Olympics in November.
Included in the Preferred Host Submission were Salt Lake’s Games vision and concept along with site plans, sustainability studies and financial information.
Federal, state, and local government guarantees and venue use, lodging, and marketing rights agreements will be submitted in late March.
The Utah capital, which hosted the Winter Olympics in 2002, had initially wanted to bid for the 2030 Games but dropped plans due to it being too close to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
“Today was such a monumental day in our journey to bring the Games back to Utah,” said Fraser Bullock, President and CEO of the Salt Lake City – Utah Committee for the Games (SLC-UT).
“Since the 2002 Games, sport has been a legacy in Utah that has helped define who we are.
“Looking ahead to 2034, we are uniting under a vision to truly elevate our communities, winter sport, and the Games experience.”
There are still steps to be navigated before the IOC votes on the 2034 host on July 24 in Paris ahead of the start of the Summer Games but with no other bids the process should be a formality.
SLC-UT even requested that the IOC take the vote on July 24 to coincide with Pioneer Day in Utah, a state holiday.
The IOC’s Future Host Commission is scheduled to visit Salt Lake City from April 9-13 to tour venues and evaluate preparations before submitting a report to the Executive Board which will determine if the bid should be put to a vote by the full membership.
“We think we will blow them away,” said Bullock. “We are very, very pleased with what we have to offer.
“If we receive a positive vote after our presentation then we would go right to signing the Olympic host contract right there. “That will be a very special day for us.”
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto, Editing by Ed Osmond)
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