Salt Lake City to host 2034 Winter Olympics after receiving approval from IOC

The International Olympic Committee has officially voted to award the 2034 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City. It will be the second time that Salt Lake City has hosted the Olympics after hosting the 2002 Winter Olympics.

The bid was presented on stage by a group that included Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, Salt Lake City mayor Erin Mendenhall, and skiing legend Lindsey Vonn. A public watch party was held at 3 a.m. local time to see the announcement live from Paris.

Salt Lake City had been tabbed as the frontrunner for the 2034 Olympics for quite some time. According to the Associated Press , climate change and high operational costs knocked many cities out of contention to be the host. Salt Lake City was the lone host city the committee was considering on Wednesday.

Due to the fact that Salt Lake City had previously hosted the Winter Olympics, the city became a very attractive destination.

Salt Lake City secured approval to host the 2034 Olympics by a 83-6 vote from IOC members.

The 2002 Winter Games came just five months after the Sept. 11 attacks and ended up being tangled with controversy. In 1998, IOC members were accused of accepting bribes from campaign officials, which led to anti-corruption policies being put in place within the IOC.

Salt Lake City opted to target the 2034 bid since it will be six years after the Summer Games are hosted by Los Angeles.